WhatsApp emoji, Google Pay in the Netherlands and more

Android Planet keeps you up to date with all the news from the Android world on a daily basis. If you have not been able to follow everything last week, we will update in this news overview. This is the most important Android news of the past few days.

New emoji for WhatsApp

WhatsApp has rolled out 115 new emoji. This way you can now also send various new animals, food and other figures. For the time being, the emoticons can only be used if you are a beta tester. This concerns the previously announced Unicode Emoji 13.0 figures. For example, you can now send a fly, earthworm or mammoth. You can also use a ninja emoji, just like the emoji with a smile and a tear.

→ Read more about the new whatsapp emoji

Google Pay finally in the Netherlands (sort of)

Payment service Google Pay is also available in the Netherlands from this week. You can now use the service at Bunq, among others, and may later also work at other banks. Google Pay, the search giant’s payment service, is also available to Dutch users from today. The service currently works at Bunq, N26 and Revolut and may later be offered by other banks. A spokesperson for Google shows NU.nl know that other banks have to decide for themselves whether they want to offer Google Pay to users.

→ Read more about Google Pay in the Netherlands

Samsung Galaxy M12 is very similar to the recently released Galaxy A42

Samsung will launch a likely new phone in early 2021: the Galaxy M12. What seems? This device is very similar to the Galaxy A42, Samsung’s first affordable 5G smartphone. OnLeaks took an exclusive look into the future and discovered the upcoming Samsung Galaxy M12. The first thing that strikes you is that this device has a number of similarities with the recently unveiled Galaxy A42 5G.

→ Read more about the renders of the Samsung Galaxy M12

Official: Huawei gets rid of Honor phone brand

After weeks of rumors, the bullet is through the church: Huawei is selling Honor to an association of companies. Getting rid of the Honor sub-brand will allow Huawei to better target its own smartphone division. It is in dire straits due to US trade restrictions. Honor was a subsidiary brand of Huawei and is also active in the Netherlands with smartphones, wearables and accessories. Huawei has been blacklisted from the United States since May 2019 due to espionage suspicions, which means that the company is no longer allowed to collaborate with Google and major hardware partners.

→ Read more about Huawei’s sale of Honor

Android 11 update for Galaxy S10 and Note 10 is delayed

The Android 11 update for the Samsung Galaxy S10 and Note 10 seems to be delayed. Samsung pauses the testing of the update because the battery is draining too quickly. It is not yet clear when the smartphones can expect the final update. Samsung released the first Android 11 beta for the Galaxy Note 10 and Note 10 Plus last week.

→ Read on about the Android 11 deferral for the Samsung S10 and Note 10

Successor of SMS officially in the Netherlands

Google has made RCS available to all Android users in the Netherlands. You can now use the SMS successor in the Search giant’s Messages app. This is how it works. Google is adding RCS (Rich Communication Services) support to the Messages app in the Netherlands. The SMS successor was quietly made available to a group of users a few months ago, but can be used by everyone. Google, together with providers, is responsible for the rollout of RCS.

→ Read more about RCS in the Netherlands

Video of the week: Block phone numbers