LG Mobile is gone, or will be in July. But LG has surprised the industry by announcing “all premium LG smartphones currently in use will receive up to three iterations of Android operating system updates from the year of purchase.”

Which is great! And odd?

• One reason people may have avoided an LG flagship phone is the absolute lack of timely Android updates, and the lack of continuing updates for new Android versions.
• Too many premium LG phones were left on an older version of Android, with either a long-awaited promise for an update, or just stuck without.
• So why is LG doing this now? Well, the generous view is that the software team no longer have to work on new devices, so can just optimize existing devices. 
• More wood behind less arrows, sort of thing.
• Or, LG was fearful that current stock just wouldn’t sell and needed to do something to help out with its carrier and retailer relations.

And to be fair the list of devices, compiled by my colleagues, isn’t particularly extensive:

• LG G8, LG G8x, LG G8s
• LG V50, LG V60
• LG Velvet
• LG Wing

But it is really good news, if: you own an LG flagship, want to pick up a final LG phone while having some reassurances it’ll have the latest Android version, or wanted to sell your LG V50 with at least some resale value.

• LG dies a hero. If only it lived like one.

🔜 All-virtual Google I/O is officially happening next month: May 18 through May 20, everyone’s invited (Android Authority).

👉 Samsung’s latest Galaxy A phones arrive in the US from today: A52, A42, A12 and the A02, but no A72. The A52 5G goes for $500. (Android Authority).

🅰 Also, a leak suggests the A82 is coming as the highest-end A-series mid-ranger …if that makes sense (Android Authority).

♨️ Several OnePlus 9 Pro users are reporting problems with overheating phones (Android Authority).

📈 Report: US teens turn their back on Android, love iPhones more than ever (Android Authority).

📉 Now even Apple is losing out to the global chip supply crunch: MacBook and iPad production delayed as supply crunch hits (Nikkei).

🎧 THX’s first consumer gadget is the Onyx, a tiny headphone combination amplifier and DAC that, this review says, “will have you embracing wires again” even at $200 (Gizmodo).

💰 Best Buy takes aim at Amazon Prime with its own membership program — unlimited Geek Squad tech support could be useful, but at $180 a year it’s going to appeal to certain folks more than others (Ars Technica).

📶 T-Mobile launches long-promised 5G home internet service (The Verge).

⁉ A requiem for Yahoo Answers, with a list of some famous and infamous questions: “How many calories are there in soap?” “What if one day the cows fight back?” (New York Times)

😬 What really caused Facebook’s 500M-user data leak? (Wired).

🔴 These selfies of NASA’s Mars helicopter with the Perseverance rover are pretty, pretty good (Space).

🤔 “What is a lifehack that seems fake, but is a true lifesaver?” “If your car is overheating, turn your heat on full blast,” is a pretty good one (r/askreddit).

🧠 And for something different: “What tech job would let me get away with the least real work possible?” (HN). Loads of interesting discussion here about good and bad of this.

Remember April Fools’s about a week ago? Here is, undoubtedly, the worst prank that a very cool and fun company pulled: fake ordering dozens of pizzas and sending an expensive fake invoice to thousands of people, for some reason.

From the BBC:

• “French Deliveroo customers who received fake bills for hundreds of euros’ worth of pizza have failed to see the funny side of the April Fool’s joke.
• On 1 April, thousands of customers of the delivery platform across France got confirmation emails for orders worth more than €450 ($530).
• Many recipients said they panicked and tried to call their banks to block any payment.”

Brilliant. Right? Right?!

Cheers,

Tristan Rayner, Senior Editor.