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It looks like Google i/o is going to be rather dull this year as tinkering with the beta has revealed that the upgrades being made to Android are becoming more and more incremental. Android Q features a cool new logo which combines both the letter Q and the number 10 (Android 10.0) but on core features that will help Google close to the gap to iOS, there is very little.

To rub salt into the wound, this entire issue is moot because it takes Google around 6 years to upgrade its entire ecosystem to a new version of Android. By comparison, it takes Apple around 90 days to complete this process meaning that its universe of devices is both extremely consistent in terms of software and very up to date. Consequently, any new amazing new innovation in Android can be copied and released to users by Google’s competitors years before the original is in the hands of most users.

Some of the exciting new features in Android Q include a new battery time remaining indicator in addition to percentage, QR code generation to share WiFi network credentials, new theme options for developers, a new share menu as well as a few other tiny tweaks and changes. Unless Google is hiding something big, it is really going to struggle to get the press and bloggers excited about this new version of Android.

Instead, Google will turn to some new AI-driven innovations to improve its Digital Life services and thereby keep its users engaged, generating traffic and, most important of all, consuming advertising. Improvements in its already leading computational photography offering, as well as an expansion of Duplex and Google Assistant, are where Google will look to drive excitement at its developer conference in May. Hence the place to look for innovation is going to be in Google’s own services which are largely underpinned by its AI rather than Android.

This may also run into difficulties as it looks like progress in AI is rapidly slowing down due to the fundamental limitations of the techniques still in use today. This would give the laggards such as Facebook, Apple and the Chinese an opportunity to catch up with Google as it is at the leading edge where the slowdown will be most acute. However, when this will occur is very unclear as some think it could be a year or two before the slowdown begins in earnest.

Apple AAPL +1.3% is planning some surprising upgrades for its 2019 iPhones, but by far the most controversial is an ugly prototype design. And now it appears this will be Apple’s preferred iPhone design…

Respected Japanese site Macotakara reports contacts within Apple’s Chinese supply chain have confirmed the so-called iPhone XI will feature a triple camera array which is housed in a large protruding square on the back of the phone.

This design was initially leaked back in January by acclaimed industry insider Steve Hemmerstoffer (aka OnLeaks) but was ridiculed as being too ugly for Apple to use. Interestingly, Hemmerstoffer also leaked a second iPhone prototype which received a more positive reaction, but Macotakara’s sources state Apple has chosen the only-a-mother-could-love option.

Macotakara does reveal Apple has tweaked the design slightly so that the three rear cameras are at least symmetrical. That said, the large square housing seems completely at odds with the company’s much-loved minimalist design aesthetic.

Perhaps just as surprising, the design isn’t even original. A square triple camera housing has already been implemented by Huawei in the Mate 20 Pro but with a central position which looks a lot better.

Yes, rumours are rife that Apple is working hard to bring a head-turning flexible iPhone Fold to market, but right now it is hard to see how the design of the iPhone XI (coupled with its omission of 5G and still no fast charger) will do enough to reverse stalling iPhone sales. Especially with entry-level cancellations apparently planned.

The clock is ticking on Windows 7, which means those last-minute Windows 10 upgrade projects are picking up momentum.

There’s nothing like a looming deadline to concentrate the mind — something that applies as much in tech as it does in journalism.

Microsoft recently revealed that Windows 10 has burst through the 800 million users mark. And while it’s dangerous to read too much into these very broad statistics, it does seem that there has been an uptick in migrations in recent months. While it took nearly nine months to go from 600 to 700 million users, it only took only five-and-a-half to get from 700 to 800 million. Sure, that’s not as fast as it was in the early days (when consumers had the option to upgrade for free), but it suggests there is some additional momentum out there (see the chart below).

One obvious reason for this uptick in Windows 10 adoption is the rapidly looming demise of Windows 7, which goes out of mainstream support in less than a year.

There are still hundreds of millions of PCs out there running Windows 7, many of them in businesses where the operating system has been a reliable workhorse for nearly a decade. My colleague Ed Bott has an excellent list of your options if you’re still on Windows 7.

Some organisations may be willing to stick with Windows 7 even after the end of mainstream support, but that does come at a cost — which will increase the longer they stick with it. Paying through the nose for additional support on an old and creaky set of software won’t make financial sense to many organisations for very long. Many organisations will also have a policy of only using software that’s still within mainstream support.

Some will have other pressures: in UK, for example, the government has told the NHS that it must have Windows 10 upgrades complete by January 2020 or risk missing out on funding for upgrades.

And it won’t just be large organisations that need to get moving. IDC recently said it expects to see a “sizable amount” of last-minute Windows 10 migration projects to be completed this year, especially among small and medium-sized businesses with an ageing installed base of PCs. (Users grumbling about losing their beloved Windows 7 may be pleased to upgrade to a shiny new laptop: desktops being replaced with notebooks is one of the few bright spots in IDC’s predictions for an otherwise grim PC market.)

Microsoft will soon start nagging Windows 7 PC users to upgrade, and is also trying to make the right noises about the reliability of Windows 10 updates — which have taken a knock recently — in order to calm worries about the move to Windows-as-a-service. Microsoft wants everyone onto Windows 10, not only to streamline support but also to encourage the use of new technologies like HoloLens.

It wouldn’t be a big surprise to see Windows 10 adoption continue at a brisk pace for the rest of this year and into early next year, as businesses race to finish those migration projects. At this rate, Microsoft might finally hit its target of one billion Windows 10 PCs — albeit 18 months later than originally hoped.

HP expanded their recall of lithium-ion batteries for their laptops on Tuesday because the batteries can overheat and are at risk of causing burns or fire, according to a recall noticefrom the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

There have been eight new reports of battery packs in the U.S. overheating, melting or charring, HP said in the notice. Those reports included one minor injury and two reports of property damage that totaled $1,100.

The company is recalling 78,500 units in addition to another 50,000 units they recalled in January 2018.

The batteries were sold at retailers nationwide and online along with computers and mobile workstations from December 2015 through April 2018 and cost between $300 and $4,000.

The batteries were also sold separately from December 2015 and December 2018 for between $50 and $90.

The lithium-ion batteries were used for HP commercial notebook computers and mobile workstations including: HP ProBooks (64x G2 and G3 series, 65x G2 and G3 series, 4xx G4 series), HPx360 (310 G2), HP Pavilion x360 11 in. Notebook PC, HP 11 Notebook PC and HP ZBook (17 G3, and Studio G3) mobile workstations.

They were also sold as replacement batteries for those products, as well as the HP ZBook Studio G4 mobile workstation, HP ProBook 4xx G5 series, HP ENVY 15 and HP Mobile Thin Clients (mt21, mt22, and mt31).

HP recommends checking their battery safety recall and replacement program website for instructions on how to have the defective batteries replaced.

Google announced that the latest update for the Chrome browser, Chrome 73, has begun rolling out to Windows, Mac, and Linux platforms. While these updates normally cover security fixes, system-level changes, and new tools for developers, Chrome 73 also includes a handful of new features for general users as well—including the much-requested Dark Mode—although their availability will be different depending on the platform you’re using.

Let’s go over the new features found in Chrome 73, when and where they’ll be available, and how to enable them.

Dark mode

After what seems like ages of user pining for a dark theme in Chrome, Google is finally adding the feature—though it’s initially only available on macOS, but will soon be rolling out to Windows as well.

Sure, you could download “dark mode” themes from the Chrome store before, Chrome’s native dark mode features the design sensibilities one would expect from Google. Chrome’s Dark Mode looks a lot like incognito mode: A Dark charcoal grey replaces the usual bright white and grey for the browser window, toolbar, settings tabs, and Google home page, as well as automatically applies a dark theme to supported web pages. Other parts of the browser maintain the classic white color scheme for now, such as the settings page.

Since Google has engineered Dark mode to work with macOS’ dark mode display options, it must be enabled by turning on your Mac’s dark UI mode from the Apple system settings, rather than in Chrome itself.

Open the Apple settings and click System Preferences

Click “General.”

Locate the “Appearance” setting, and select “Dark.”

Chrome will automatically transition to Dark Mode.

Quick note: Since enabling Dark Mode makes the normal and incognito browsing modes look identical, Google has added a prominent incognito icon to the right of the URL field when in Incognito mode.

As for the imminent Windows version of Chrome’s Dark Mode, it will also require that you enable Windows 10’s dark theme at the OS level first.

Auto PIP and video features

Google began testing native picture-in-picture (PIP) video mode for Chrome last year, but Chrome 73 sees the feature getting an expanded presence on the browser’s desktop version, extending PIP support to progressive web apps. This means supported videos will now automatically transition to PIP mode when users switch to other tabs or web apps. The update also integrates early versions of a Skip Ad feature for PIP videos and the ability to quickly jump back to the video’s tab or app. While these features don’t require any special settings to be enabled on the user’s end, developers will have to build support it into their web apps and pages in order for them to be available, so functionality may differ between web pages and apps.

In addition to the wider support for PIP mode, Chrome 73 will also let developers add hardware media key support to web apps. Developers can now let users play, pause, and skip tracks or other playlist media using buttons on their keyboard or other connected hardware, even when the media is being played in the background.

Other features

Aside from Dark Mode rollout and new media playback options, Chrome 73 adds other notable features for both users and developers alike. Users get enhanced spell check, a new option for “safe browsing extended reporting.” Chrome 73 also consolidates all options related to Google’s sync feature under the new “Sync and Google services” section that was added to the settings menu with Chrome 72 (these changes are still being rolled out following the update, so may not be immediately present for all users).

While Chrome 73’s initial launch only covers the desktop versions of the browser, Android users can look forward to new, clearer download progress notifications when saving files in the mobile browser. The update will also include a redesigned download history page that lets users filter their download history by file type.

Finally, as Chrome 73 adds progressive web app support to the macOS version of Chrome, and developers can now add badge API to web apps for desktop browsers so that notifications alerts (such as unread notifications) can be displayed over the app’s icon from Chrome’s home page.

The Chrome 73 update will be rolling out to all desktop users in the coming days. Support for features like Dark Mode on Windows and other changes will hopefully follow soon after, but Google hasn’t given any specific timetable. The Android and Chrome OS versions of Chrome 73 are also expected to launch soon, though you can check out the new features early by downloading the Chrome beta.