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Another new update is rolling out to Microsoft Launcher, bringing with it more customizations as well as full support for Android Oreo.  The update is version 4.12 for those keeping score at home and that version has been in beta for a few weeks now.  If you have been running that beta build, there isn’t anything new for you but if you are in the stable channel, there’s lots to talk about.

First, folders and app icon gestures are now a thing.  You can now setup folders on your Home screen or apps to open when you swipe them.  This is done by long pressing the folder or icon, tapping the edit icon (the pencil) and the enabling swipe.

The Chrome OS Beta Channel has been updated but not in the way that was expected.  An almost unheard of seventh build has arrived to the channel in the current cycle and comes a few days after it was expected to be moved up a build.  The new build is still based on Chrome 68 and is build 68.0.3440.87 (Platform version: 10718.71.2).

Chrome 68 was expected to be in the Chrome OS Stable Channel by this point.  That release was suppose to happen on July 31st but clearly hasn’t yet.  While the release notes don’t indicate why there is a delay or any specific bug found, the delay in release likely indicates a last minute issue was discovered or something new cropped up.  That’s the life of beta software.

Acer has launched a set of four new Chromebooks, two 13″ models with impressive specs, and two 15″ models with so-so specs.  The new models are the Acer Chromebook 13, Acer Chromebook Spin 13,  Acer Chromebook 15, and the Acer Chromebook Spin 15.  As the name somewhat suggests, the two Spin models are 2-in-1 designs where you can fold the screen back onto the device to go into tablet mode.

The 13″ Chromebooks sport a 2256 x 1504 IPS display with a 3:2 aspect ratio.  They are powered by the Intel Core i3 or i5 processors and comes with a minimum of 8GB of RAM.  For the Chromebook 13, you get 32GB of Storage.  For the Chromebook Spin 13, you can get either 8GB or 16GB of RAM which is coupled up with 64GB or 128GB of storage depending on the configuration.

To be honest, if you have been paying attention to the smartphone market over the past year, you know that HMD Global’s Nokia brand has been making a serious comeback.  Now we have a more substantial report that reflect what everyone suspected:  Nokia has had a killer year.

Counterpoint Research has published their report on the Smartphone market and they, like IDC earlier in the week, confirm that Huawei has passed Apple as the number two smartphone company in the world.  But the Counterpoint report goes into more details than the IDC report on the “other” brands, of which Nokia is lumped into.  That’s where you find that the brand has gained some 782% in market share since Q2 2017.