Today there were some big updates pushed out by Apple, macOS 10.5.2 at slightly above 3GB which includes firmware updates, a sizeable number of security updates as well (link) along with pretty much almost every part of the operating system having been touched in some way by the update. iOS almost received an update to 13.3 with a modem firmware being updated to 2.03.07 and the carrier settings updated to ‘Skinny 40.0 – unfortunately it hasn’t yielded VoLTE yet as Spark has only just started pushing it out to spark customers (Skinny is their cheaper no-frills brand – all the thrills, none of the frills).

Google is/have pushing out a feature update for their Pixel phones which will include memory compression for cached applications (along with other improvements) so hopefully that should mean a more efficient experience (link). It is also good to know that Google is going to be pushing out ‘feature drops’ on a regular basis so hopefully it should build up brand loyalty knowing that as they keep their device that software experience will keep improving over the life of the device.

There is a rumour that Google is going to release an Google branded Android TV 10 (based on Android 10) device sometime in 2020 to cater for the gap in the market sitting between a stripped down device like Chromecast and a high end ‘jack of all trades’ which the nVidia Shield Pro caters for. Google has released the ADT-3 device to developers along with the Android TV 10 code to third parties so that they can get onboard with testing and pushing it out to customers. Personally I long for the days where one could just settle for a television without all the bells and whistle, and if you wanted a smart television you just went out and bought a set top box like an Apple TV, Fire TV or some other device. There is the Xiaomi Mi Box S which is currently testing Android TV 9 (based on Android 9) – hopefully with the foundations laid in Android 9 (project treble) will yield a smoother migration from Android TV 9 to Android TV 10. I’m still umming and arring about getting an nVidia Shield Pro but I am learning towards getting it but in 2020 after coming back from Christmas holidays with the family.

Side note: Chrome 79 has been released for Android, iOS and desktop operating systems (Windows, Linux, macOS) – everything is working smoothly as always. I can now sign into YouTube using my G Suite account – there is a stand down period after creating a new account. After I could sign in I cancelled the Premium subscription on my old account (which is just used for chatting with a friend and for my domain registrations) and enabled it on my new one along with getting my television to log into my new account and migrating the subscriptions from my old account to my new one.