Firefox OS is Dead: Mozilla Lays Off Connected Devices Team

Firefox OS, also known among developers as Boot2Gecko, was an ambitious project initiated by Mozilla. The team had tasted success with Firefox as an open-source browser, competing against other closed source alternatives such as the popular Google Chrome and Internet Explorer. So when Firefox OS was announced in 2013, many open source enthusiasts hoped to see similar success against competitors like Android and iOS.

Unfortunately, things have not gone as planned. Though Firefox still retains a sizable fanbase on the desktop and mobile browser front, the situation is a lot worse for Firefox OS, as the project is now officially dead.

The situation should come as no surprise to people following the project. Mozilla's Firefox OS never really picked up as a mobile OS competitor as it was unable to attract users with its web application implementation and open web API usage. Mozilla had announced its intentions to discontinue development back in late 2015, and finally ceased all development of the mobile OS in 2016.

The final nail in the coffin comes from Mozilla laying off the team tasked with bringing Firefox OS to connected devices, which was the attempt to bring the OS to IoT devices. The lay-off affects about 50 employees, per the report from CNET. Some of the affected employees will be relocated to new positions within Mozilla while others will be laid off.

Mozilla's agenda behind its software endeavors was not to make money, but instead push for an improvement in the overall experience on the web. Firefox OS was one such project, but Mozilla was unfortunately unable to meet their objective.

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Source: CNET

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Google Acknowledges a Bug That Prevents a Trusted Voice from Unlocking the Phone

Someone in the Pixel User Community of the Google Product Forums has discovered a bug that is happening with both the Pixel and the Pixel XL. This feature can be found in the Google application settings and it enables you to unlock your phone by saying the words "OK, Google." The feature is supposed to be trained to know your voice specifically, so that anyone else doesn't pick up your phone and have the ability to unlock it simply by saying OK, Google.

On the Pixel phones, it seems there's a bug that will lock the user out from this feature if it detects a wrong voice. It would make sense to think that this is actually a security measure and that Google simply wants to make sure the owner of the phone is present. But tapping on the notification that is presented doesn't do anything (when tapping on a notification will usually ask for your PIN, pattern or password to unlock the phone.

What is actually happening though, is that the Trusted Voice feature is turning off once a wrong voice is detected. This feature turns back on once the Pixel phone has been unlocked, so again, it would make sense to think that this is just an added security measure. However, a Google employee has acknowledged that this is not how it's supposed to work and developers have already identified a fix to the problem. They aren't sure when the fix will be implemented, but Orrin says he'll update the thread once it is ready.

Others in the thread are saying this is happening on both the Nexus 5X and the Nexus 6P too (this could also be happening on other devices). Orrin does offer a workaround for the bug for those who need a fix immediately. You'll want to go into the Google application, then Settings and then Accounts & Privacy. From here, dive into the Google Activity Controls section and then Voice & Audio Activity section. You'll want to make sure this is set to "on" for all accounts on the device.

Source: Google Product Forums

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Chrome 57 Beta Adds the CSS Grid Layout, Enhances Add to Home Screen and More

Google has recently rolled out new Chrome updates to Android, Chrome OS, Linux, Mac and Windows. If you haven't already received your latest Chrome update, be sure to check and see if it's available for you now. This means that work from previous release channels are now being shifted to the next branch (Canary to Dev, Dev to Beta) and Google has released some details about what we can expect with version 57 of their Chrome Beta channel.

The big addition here is the inclusion of the CSS Grid Layout, which is quite similar to CSS Flexbox. Google points you to this Mozilla Developer Network page if you want to learn about it in more detail. With websites being accessed on screens of varying sizes (from large TVs to small watches), supporting all of these screens can be difficult for a web developer. It's definitely been possible thanks to complex combinations of markup and CSS, but that ends up being difficult to maintain over time.

So the CSS Grid gives web developers a two-dimensional grid-based layout system that is optimized for responsive user interface design. Developers can specify if they want an element to span across a number of columns and/or rows, and these elements can even be named so that it's easy to layout the code. Check the image above for an example of how this can work once it has been implemented. Chrome 57 Beta also comes with some changes to the Add to home Screen feature too.

Google has been doing a lot of work to make Progressive Web Applications feel more native than ever before and this change enhances that even further. Assuming the website you're visiting is setup as a PWA, Chrome will allow it to be integrated into Android much deeper than before. These shortcut app icons will appear in your launcher's app drawer, in the Android Settings section, and they can receive incoming intents from other apps as well.

Source: Chromium Blog

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Pokemon Go Reportedly Passes $1 Billion in Revenue

Pokemon Go was initially released in July of last year and it has already surpassed what so many other mobile games have been able to do. The game was able to garner a tremendous amount of hype before it was even made available to the public, and then it took the world by storm once it was officially launched. This is a game that changed people's everyday habits and got them to go and walk around their community more than anything else could.

It's also a game that made average smartphone consumers upgrade their aging device so they could play it for more than 30 minutes (and in some cases, play the game at all). It caused a spike in traffic in our location-spoofing threads here at XDA, and single-handedly drove the sales of power banks to record breaking numbers. It's fair to say that Pokemon Go was the most popular mobile game of 2016, even though it was criticized for not being as complex as some people had hoped a Pokemon game would be.

About a month after launch, it was estimated that Pokemon Go was able to bring in $14 million in revenue in just one week. Other reports say it was able to bring in over $18 million in just one single day. The game is free to download but also comes with in-app purchases for various enhancement items to help you along the way. This week, Sensor Tower is reporting that, based on their data, Pokemon Go has surpassed $1 billion in revenue since it was launched less than 7 months ago.

To give you a comparison to how impressive this number is, Supercell's Clash Royale hasn't even passed the $1 billion mark yet and it's been available for 10 months already. In the first 7 months after Clash Royale was launched, they were able to amass a reported $550 million worldwide. None of these numbers are official though as Niantic hasn't made any official announcements yet, but research is indicating they've hit a home run with this mobile game.

Source: Sensor Tower

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Huawei Confirms Android Nougat Update For Honor 6X In March

Originally launched at CES 2017 last month, the Honor 6X is a successor to the Honor 5X, which was launched back in 2015. The latest mid-ranger from the Chinese manufacturer packs good specs for its price with the main highlight being the dual-camera setup, something which is uncommon in this price segment. Powered by the in-house octa-core Kirin 655 SoC, the device comes in three storage variants: 3GB+32GB, 4GB+32GB, and 4GB+64GB, and has been available for the purchase in the US and European regions for a while now.

Speaking of software, the Honor 6X was launched with Android Marshmallow based EMUI 4.1, which disappointed many who were hoping the device to ship with the latest version: Android Nougat. For those concerned about the device shipping with the relatively outdated software version, it appears that you won't have to wait long to get your hands on Android Nougat as the company has just revealed the details regarding the upcoming update. Huawei has confirmed to AndroidPolice via an email that the company is working on a new EMUI update based on Android Nougat for the Honor 6X, adding that the update will be rolled out to the device as early as March.

The company did promise at the time of launching that the Honor 6X will be updated to Android Nougat before the end of Q1. Whether Huawei will be able keep its promise about the update timeframe remains to be seen.

Source: AndroidPolice

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Report: LG Watch Sport Will Be Priced At $349, First Watch To Come With Android Pay

Last week we reported the possible pricing details on one of the upcoming LG's Android Wear watches, the Watch Style. Previous reports have shown that the Watch Style will sport a 1.2-inch 360 × 360 display, 512MB RAM, and 240mAh battery and only have Bluetooth for connectivity.

Now, according to a new report, we may have pricing details of the LG Watch Sport as well. As confirmed by AndroidPolice with their trusted sources, the LG Watch Sport will be priced at $349 in the US, which is $100 more compared to the LG Watch Style. Given how many extra functionalities does the Watch Sport bring over its smaller sibling, it's hard not to see why the LG Watch is costlier than the Watch Style. The LG Watch Sport is said to be a bigger and more powerful of two watches as it packs in a 1.38-inch 480 × 480 resolution display, 786MB RAM, 430mAh battery, LTE connectivity, NFC, and a heart rate monitor. Rumors are also suggesting that the Watch Sport will be the first ever Android Wear watch to come with Android Pay support.

The LG Watch Style and Watch Sport are said to be developed by Google and LG in collaboration and will be the first to launch with the Android Wear 2.0 OS. Both watches are expected to be unveiled on February 9 along with Google's Android Wear 2.0 update, so hopefully we won't have to wait long to learn more about these Wear watches.

Source: AndroidPolice

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LazyFlasher is an Alternative to the AnyKernel2 Project

XDA Recognized Developer jcadduono has just released a new tool called LazyFlasher. This is a custom kernel tool that is designed to make it easy to dynamically modify ramdisks and inject kernel binaries into the current boot image (similar to osm0sis's AnyKernel2 project). Interested kernel developers should take a look at the XDA thread for more details!

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