CorysTechTime

Some features should just be standard on a smartphone and Now Playing is one of them. Now Playing has been around for a while now but recently the Pixel exclusive feature picked up some new tricks. First, for the uninitiated Now Playing is a feature that scans for music that's nearby in the background and displays said music on the lock screen of the device. It is important to note that the feature is fully offline and does not require an internet connection. Additionally, Now Playing surprisingly does not drain the battery.  So, what's not new? Well, the functionality is mostly the same. Play some music your phone recognizes and it will display on the lock screen and in the notification area. You still get the song title and the artist's name which is very handy. So, what's new? The two new features are Now Playing search and Now Playing favorites. With Now Playing search, Pixel can search for songs not automatically recognized. This feature does utilize the internet s

Google hasn't wasted any time getting some of its apps ready for Android 12L. For those unaware, Android 12L is the next point release for Android 12 with a focus on large screens such as Chromebooks and Android tablets. Over the past week or so I have noticed a few of Google's own apps have seen some updates that take advantage of the larger screen size. This is definitely a welcome change and one I hope to see further developed. Let's check out a couple examples... First up, we have the Google Podcasts app which is my current podcast app of choice. Over the weekend I received an update for the Google app and I noticed when I opened up the podcast app that things looked a bit different. Previously there was just a single row of podcasts on the Home and Explore sections making it quite the task to scroll through podcasts. Now, two podcasts are available per row making it twice as fast two navigate and it is also nice to see the app take up a proper amount of space on the sc

When it comes to JBL and headphones you immediately think of great sound. I would even debate that all of JBLs headphones sound good to a certain extent. However, JBL best sounding headphones are not their most expensive offering and that really surprised me. Check the video for my thoughts and what I think JBL best sounding headphones are. You might be surprised too.

The Pixel 4a 5G was one of those smartphones that did not get a lot of attention and that's probably due to the climate the world was in 2020. That's too bad because the 4a 5G was and still is a good device and I would debate still a good option in 2022. Google doesn't sell the device anymore but if you can find it somewhere don't hesitate to pick one up. With it due to receiving at least Android 14 on the software side and its excellent hardware coupled with a modern design the Pixel 4a 5G has a lot of good going for itself.  Check out the video for my thoughts on the device in early 2022.

Fossil Gen 6 is a beautifully built smartwatch running on Google's Wear OS 2 platform. I'm a fan of Wear OS and looking forward to the day it receives Wear OS 3. Check out the video for my thoughts on the Fossil Gen 6 with Wear OS 2 and the places in the UI where Wear OS 3 can be seen.

The JBL Tour One is JBL's high-end headphones for 2021. I got them for a really good deal during Black Friday this past November and I've been using them ever since. The headphones are very stylish and feel premium. Though not perfect the JBL Tour One headphones can compete with the best headphones on the market in 2022. Build I find the build to be excellent with soft-touch material. It feels like metal but it's too soft to the touch so it's probably polycarbonate. There is no creaking and the Tour One's have proven to be very durable thus far. The included case also helps with that. The earcups are very comfortable while providing plenty of cushion. Top part of the band also features an equally comfortable amount of padding that just adds to the comfort.  Sound The headphones are from JBL so the sound is excellent, right? That's true to an extent. Let me explain. The highs are nice and bright and the Tour Ones does an excellent job with the range of sound. Mus

  Google does a really good job of updating their own apps on Android and that's exactly the reason why I must point out the apps that have been somewhat neglected. Now, I'm not saying that Google has not updated these apps, however, the apps I am pointing out don't seem to fit with what they're doing from a design perspective so they tend to stick out like a sore thumb. I use all of the apps I will be mentioning on a near-daily basis. First up we have Find My Device. FMD is a handy app that allows you to track your devices, secure a device and play a sound so you can more easily find said device. Now the problem with FMD is that it looks very dated. There are no rounded corners or Material You support. Also, it has that green bar at the top. Why? Additionally, Google has not added new features in recent history. Personally, I would like to see my Chromebook in the list of devices and support for dark theme. Next up we have YT Studio. The YT Studio app is an app for con

  The headline does not tell the whole story so give me a chance to explain. I'll start off by saying this. Chrome OS is my preferred computing operating system and I only use Chrome OS as my personal computing platform. I like how simple it is to use and how reliable it has become. When I'm using Chrome OS I feel like this is the future of computing. With that out of the way, let's get into the topic at hand. Chrome OS has been evolving over the past few years and things have really picked up the last two. By far, Chrome OS is changing faster than any other desktop operating system, and to be honest, it has to. Of the major desktop OSs, Chrome OS is the least mature thus necessitating the need to adopt new and existing features found on other OSs. This is not entirely Chrome OS fault as the more mature desktop OSs had a twenty or thirty-year head start. Even with that, I believe Chrome OS is in a good place but things have slowed down quite a bit. I'm sure things are b