Google used to tag its name to a slew of products from Chromebooks to tablets. Nowadays, the firm is primarily focusing on smartphones, smart home products, and wireless earbuds. But what if the company branched out to another segment?
In a recent poll, we asked readers what Google Pixel-branded product they’d like to see next following the Pixel 6 launch. The results are now in!
Poco’s M series of phones have been around for a while, usually being Redmi devices with a fresh design and competitive budget price tag. The company’s next phone, the Poco M4 Pro, has already passed through the likes of the FCC, but the firm is now making this device official.
Squid Game has become the surprise streaming hit of 2021. The nine-episode series from South Korea about people participating in a deadly series of children’s games has become a massive hit for its home at Netflix. Indeed, the streamer announced that the show has been watched in 142 million households in the first four weeks since it dropped on September 17. So when you have such a big hit, surely there’s a Squid Game Season 2 in development? Right?
Read more: Best Netflix original series
It’s easy to find a good Chromebook on a budget. After all, the whole idea behind Chrome OS devices is that they serve as a cheaper alternative to Windows laptops. We’ve rounded up some of the best Chromebook deals on the internet so you won’t have to search too hard for a good price.
See also: The best Chromebooks you can get
As exciting as the Pixel 6 series is just for existing, one of the most exciting aspects of the phones is the chipset inside. This is Google’s first attempt at designing its own silicon, and so far, it appears to be a success (check our Pixel 6 Pro review for more).
Now, Google has posted a blog entry that details just how smart Google Tensor is, at least when it comes to photography. The company gives some details on Tensor’s Image Signal Processor (ISP) and how its machine learning smarts make your photos and videos better.
Although there are plenty of Android-based tablets out there, they haven’t been able to carve a dent in the massive market share of Apple’s iPad. One of the big reasons for this is because Android has weak systems in place for catering to the larger displays of tablets.
Finally, Google appears to be taking this problem more seriously. Today, the company announced Android 12L which is specifically targeted towards tablets, Chromebooks, and foldables. It includes features that would make using those larger displays easier and more efficient.
All eyes over the past few weeks have been on the launch of Android 12 and the new Google Pixel 6 series. However, we can’t forget that Samsung is testing its own Android 12 launch and it is likely coming soon.
See also: Everything you need to know about One UI
Manufacturers use a simple trick to denote something as the best or most powerful — they add “Max” to the name. Think of the iPhone 13 Pro Max or the HBO Max streaming service. Now, Amazon is taking its streaming devices to the “Max.” Its new Fire TV Stick 4K Max is billed as the company’s most powerful streaming stick yet. Find out if the claims ring true in our Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max review.
See also: The best media streaming devices you can buy
Google’s Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro are arguably its most important phones since the Pixel 3a line launched back in 2018. The Pixel flagships have always excelled in terms of photography and software updates but left a little to be desired in terms of pure hardware features.
Welcome to Wallpaper Wednesday! In this weekly roundup, we’ll give you a handful of Android wallpapers you can download and use on your phone, tablet, or even your laptop/PC. The images will come from folks here at Android Authority as well as our readers. All are free to use and come without watermarks. File formats are JPG and PNG, and we’ll provide images in both landscape and portrait modes, so they’ll be optimized for various screens.
For the newest walls as well as all the ones from previous weeks, check out this Drive link. Want to submit your own? Head to the bottom of this article.
Manufacturers ditching wall chargers seems to be all the rage these days whenever you pick up a new phone. The problem is that the older options you have lying around your house may not be up to snuff with today’s fast charging options. Of course, OEMs will tell you to grab a first-party wall charger, but is that really your best option? In some cases, yes, but there are so many more third-party options to choose from.
We’re here to highlight some of the best wall chargers you can buy, including both first- and third-party options. Some offer multiple ports while others offer impressive fast charging options, and some pack the best of both worlds. What are you waiting for? Let’s get your battery back to a full charge.
Huawei launched the Watch Fit a year ago, bringing a long, slender fitness tracker to its fitness wearable portfolio. This week, the company launched its smaller sequel in Europe in the form of the Huawei Watch Fit Mini.
As its name suggests, the Mini model is effectively a miniature version of the Watch Fit. This is most noticeable when looking at the screen. The Mini swaps out the 1.64-inch display on the original Watch Fit for a 1.47-inch AMOLED. This switch doesn’t result in a significant weight saving, though. The Mini only weighs one gram less than the original Watch Fit.
Good morning! All about nostalgia today, hence the rose-tinted glasses...
The Google Pixel 6 series made its debut last week to plenty of fanfare from fans and critics alike. However, one specific mention on its feature list piqued our interest. According to Google, the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro will get three OS updates, stretching to Android 15 when it debuts in 2024. In total, the phones will receive five years of security updates, too. But is this long enough?
It’s a question we posed to readers in a recent poll, and the results are now in.
OnePlus hasn’t enjoyed the most reliable software updates in the last couple of years, as users reported a variety of bugs in Oxygen OS. It looks like we can now add another bug to the list as some OnePlus 8 owners are reporting that Google Pay and several other apps are disabled on their phones after a system update.
OnePlus 8 owners on the OnePlus forum and Reddit noted that Google Pay was disabled after the Oxygen OS 11.0.9.9.IN21BA update. Some users also reported that their banking apps and even the McDonald’s app were affected by the update.
The Pixel 6 series is here! As always, the first question for most people is, how does it stack up against the competition? On the one hand, we have the completely overhauled flagships from Google, while on the other are Apple’s latest that follow a tried and tested formula. Here’s a quick look at the Pixel 6 series vs iPhone 13 lineup! There’s so much more to the conversation now than just iOS vs Android, so let’s dive right in.
Google revealed the Pixel 6 series last week, and it marks the first time we’re seeing the company’s in-house Tensor processor used in a smartphone. The search colossus made a big deal about how this new chipset was much faster than the Pixel 5‘s silicon.
But truth be told, the Pixel 5 used a mid-range Snapdragon 765G SoC, so it was expected that the Tensor processor would be superior. But how does the Pixel 6 fare against the Pixel 4? This was the last Pixel to use a flagship processor, making for a better point of comparison.
One of the coolest Pixel features is Call Screen functionality, which uses Google Assistant and transcription to suss out spam and other unwanted callers. The feature has only been available in Canada, Japan, and the US, but it’s now coming to a host of new markets.
Power sometimes feels like the most overused buzzword when it comes to smartphones. It could be camera power, processing power, or sheer battery power. For the Moto G Power series to keep power right there in its name year after year, Motorola is giving it some big shoes to keep filling. How well does it hold up in the ninth year of the Moto G series? Find out in our Motorola Moto G Power (2021) review.
Related: The best budget phones you can currently buy
Our review of the Google Pixel 6 Pro is filled with love for the new flagship phone. As with other Pixel smartphones, we loved the camera on the device and felt it captured great video in our tests.
Check it out: Our full Pixel 6 Pro review
At the Samsung Developers Conference (SDC) happening right now, we’ve already seen Samsung announce some significant smart home news. Now, though, we have some news related to Samsung’s line of laptops that is pretty unexpected.
Samsung will soon roll out a Windows skin to be known as One UI Book 4 (h/t Avi Greengart). Like the Android skin known as One UI 4, the Windows-based version will change around the look of Windows apps to better fit the Samsung aesthetic. It will also make the visual experience of using a Samsung laptop better match the experience of using a Samsung smartphone.
If you’re still looking for accessories to perfect your home office setup or boost your gaming rig, you can’t forget about your mouse. After all, working on a laptop trackpad for long hours can be difficult. We’ve put together some of the best mouse deals available to help you reach a decision.
See also: The best ergonomic wireless mouse: What are your options?
Today, Samsung is in the middle of its annual Samsung Developers Conference (SDC). At that event, it announced some big news for folks who have Samsung-based smart home products, although the news also affects pretty much every smart home owner.
Starting next year, Samsung will integrate the Matter protocol into its products. That will include SmartThings products as well as Galaxy devices, televisions, and other household items.
Sony on Tuesday joined the small group of OEMs offering smartphones with 1-inch camera sensors. Bolstered by this sensor, the company talks up the Xperia Pro-I‘s imaging credentials, its usefulness for vloggers, and its performance in low light. Although the hardware might be fresh, the marketing message is nothing we haven’t heard from smartphone companies before.
This got us thinking: do you really care about the camera sensor sizes on smartphones? Do you actively seek out smartphones with large camera sensors, or believe it’s just another part of the photography equation? We’re eager to hear your views, so be sure to vote in our poll below.
Earlier this year, LG surprised us all by completely exiting the smartphone industry. Going forward, the company will only support existing phones instead of producing new ones.
Now, we have another interesting turn of events from LG (via 9to5Google). Going out today, the South Korean company is sending out discount codes to its “loyal mobile customers.” The codes net you $65 off a Google Pixel 5a. Wait, what?
Qualcomm has launched Plus variants of its flagship chipsets for a few years now, starting with the Snapdragon 855 Plus and continuing on through to the Snapdragon 888 Plus a few months ago. Now, the company has announced four new mid-range processors, and two of them are Plus variants.
Starting with the most capable chipset of the lot, the Snapdragon 778G Plus is a mildly upgraded version of the 778G found inside the Samsung Galaxy A52s and Motorola Edge 20. That means you’ve got a 6nm design with an octa-core CPU (4x Cortex-A78 and 4x Cortex-A55), an Adreno 642L GPU, and a Hexagon 770 processor for machine learning tasks.
The topic of system ads on smartphones has come up numerous times before, as the likes of Realme, Xiaomi, and Samsung have all offered this in a bid to make more money. Samsung has since announced that it’s disabling system ads on its phones, but it looks like Sony is ready to step in.
A couple of Redditors (u/sergiocastell and u/EvilMonkeySlayer) spotted an ad popping up in the notification shade of their Sony phones. The ad promotes the release of the brand-new, $1,800 Xperia Pro-I smartphone. It’s unclear whether this is a wide-scale promotion or region-specific, but you can check out a screenshot below.
The team behind the Oura Ring continues to focus on actionable wellness data with the launch of the Oura Ring Gen 3. The latest fitness wearable packs more memory, LEDs, and health sensors, but the biggest news is its brand new cost structure. For the first time, the Oura team has introduced a monthly membership fee.
Almost three years ago exactly, the “new” Palm released the incredibly small Palm Phone. It was meant to act as a companion phone to your main phone, although reviews and sales prevented it from making a big splash in the industry.
Now, the company is releasing only its second product in over three years of existence: Palm Buds Pro. It looks like the tech industry’s obsession with launching true wireless earbuds couldn’t escape Palm, either.
Our quick picks for the best Google Pixel 6 screen protectors:
The Google Pixel 6 is here! The phone comes with a large 6.4-inch display that you’ll want to keep scratch and blemish-free for as long as possible. A good screen protector will undoubtedly do the trick. Here at Android Authority, we extensively test both phones and accessories, so we’ve done the research for you. These are some of the best Google Pixel 6 screen protectors you can get right now!
Good morning! I was up for the Sony launch at 5am this morning, though I can't say I'll be lining up to buy the latest Xperia...
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