The next Samsung Galaxy Unpacked event is scheduled for July 9, and the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Z Flip 7 are likely to be the spotlight products. One of the biggest concerns fans are experiencing ahead of the event is yet another price increase on the already pricey foldables.

On Tuesday, Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Z Flip 7 pricing appeared early on an Italian electronics website, showing price increases of roughly €100-€200 on the phones.

However, on Wednesday, a potential reprieve emerged from a new price leak spotted by German tech site WinFuture.de, indicating that the prices for the new phones will remain the same as last year.

So, which rumor is to be believed?

The case for a price hike

Given the price increases that we've seen across laptops and other consumer tech over the last few months, it wouldn't come as a shock if Samsung saw fit to bump the prices on the Galaxy Z Fold 7 or Galaxy Z Flip 7 by $50-$100.

Samsung has never really managed to bring down the cost of the Galaxy Z Fold line, while the Galaxy Z Flip line got a substantial cut of almost $400 to bring it to a starting price of $999 with the release of the Galaxy Z Flip 3, but that was almost four years ago now.

On top of the general increase in manufacturing costs, there are multiple rumors suggesting potentially pricey upgrades to the phones.

For the Galaxy Z Fold 7, this includes a much thinner design, a larger and nearly creaseless display, a more durable design, and a massive camera improvement to match the Galaxy S25 Ultra's 200MP main sensor.

The Galaxy Z Flip 7 is similarly rumored to be thinner, lighter, and more durable, but with a slightly larger 6.85-inch internal display and a 4-inch cover display, up from 6.7 inches and 3.4 inches, respectively. No other major changes for the Z Flip 7, so at a minimum, the expectation would be a smaller price bump.

The case for a price hold

Last year, the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6 both saw a $100 price increase over their predecessors, moving to $1,899 and $1,099, respectively. Samsung is already at or near the top of the market with both of these phones, so increasing prices two years in a row would not be seen favorably.

While Samsung offers an abundance of deals on its phones for Unpacked, the Z Fold line in particular remains in a price category almost by itself, with other large foldables, such as the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold and OnePlus Open, starting at $100 to $200 less.

I just ran down the list of upgrades anticipated for the Galaxy Z Fold 7, but they are also potentially removing the digitizer from the display, which is a cost-saving move for them. And while it may match many of the Galaxy S25 Ultra features, it's doing so 6 months later, so component costs should be at least slightly reduced.

The Galaxy Z Flip 7 faces considerable price pressure from Motorola's foldables, with the Razr line starting at just $699. And while there are a few design changes for the Flip 7, none of these are particularly expensive, and rumors of an Exynos processor and no changes to the cameras would make a price increase a tough sell.

What's the verdict?

Based on what I've seen so far, I'll be surprised if Samsung raises the prices on either phone. My one hedge to that bet would be if they announce a new high-end Galaxy Z Fold 7 Ultra or Galaxy Z Flip 7 Ultra, but that would likely mean a slight price drop for the base models as again Samsung is already at the ceiling of what the market will bear with the prices on its foldables.

I love Samsung's foldables, but pricing remains the biggest factor holding them back from mainstream success. Particularly the Galaxy Z Fold, where rumors of a more affordable version have been circulating for as long as the line has existed, but Samsung has never managed to crack the $1,799 price point. This doesn't seem to be the year for it either, but at least we can hope for the prices to stay the same.

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We’ve finally learned more about the upcoming Google Pixel 10 following yet another round of leaks. This time, they come from Android Headlines and paint a clearer picture of Google's next flagship. And while previous leaks of the renders by OnLeaks and Mystic Leaks confirm a familiar formula, together they raise a worrying question: Is Google coasting?

If you were hoping for a design shake-up, you might want to temper expectations. The base model Pixel 10 looks almost indistinguishable from its predecessor. Same horizontal camera bar. Same flat display. Same matte glass aesthetic.

We’re not saying it’s ugly. It’s arguably one of the cleanest designs on the Android side of mobiles. But in a year when all the big Android players are leaning into bold, AI-heavy, edge-to-edge reinvention, Google’s next phone feels like it’s stuck in 2022. Especially when the base models are missing what is quickly becoming a critical inclusion: A vapor chamber.

A safe bet, but perhaps too safe

According to the leak, the Pixel 10 will feature a 6.17-inch flat display, possibly OLED, with the same centrally aligned punch-hole selfie cam we’ve seen since the Pixel 6. Around back, the trademark camera visor houses what should be three lenses — wide, ultrawide, and telephoto — and a flash in a layout similar to the Pixel 9.

Measurements show it’s slightly taller and slimmer than its predecessor (152.8 x 71.9 x 8.5mm), with rounded corners and a new metal frame that could help with durability. But visual tweaks aside, this feels like more of a spec refresh than anything groundbreaking.

There’s no confirmed word on the chipset, but we’ll likely see a next-gen Google Tensor G5, manufactured by TSMC. Early whispers suggest modest gains in AI performance and battery efficiency, but no leap in raw power.

That’s going to sting when the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 and Apple A19 chipsets are reportedly doubling down on generative workloads with major gains in TOPS (trillions of operations per second).

Vapor chamber? Pro model only

Easily the most surprising and controversial takeaway from June 24’s Pixel 10 leak is what’s missing under the hood. According to Android Headlines, the base Pixel 10 does not include a vapor chamber cooling system.

This is a pretty big deal. We’re in 2025 now, and thermal design is table stakes. Even budget phones are shipping with copper heat pipes or vapor chambers to keep performance stable under load, particularly with AI processing and high-end gaming pushing mobile chips harder than ever. Samsung’s Galaxy S25 and even OnePlus mid-rangers include advanced heat dissipation systems.

Segmentation seems to be the only viable reason Google would choose to do this. It would also explain why Google is leaving out Wi-Fi 7 and Ultra Res Zoom on the base model. By pulling key features from the vanilla Pixel 10, Google is drawing a sharper line between the base and Pro models. But that strategy risks alienating fans who don’t want to shell out $999 just to get modern cooling.

If the Tensor G5 chip is as efficient as leaks suggest, maybe this won't matter for most users. But for video capture or AI workloads, the lack of a vapor chamber could lead to thermal throttling, which is simply unacceptable.

Pixel vs. everyone

Let’s put all this in context. The Galaxy S25 Edge is 5.8mm thin, feather-light, and still packs a 200MP camera with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 chip. That’s the same silicon expected in many late-2025 Android flagships. Apple’s iPhone 17 Pro Max, meanwhile, is tipped to include an upgraded Neural Engine with on-device GPT-4-class processing and improved battery life from its new stacked cell tech.

Against that backdrop, the Pixel 10's rumored dual-lens setup and conservative redesign feel underwhelming, especially without a confirmed leap in AI compute or display technology. Even mid-range phones like the OnePlus 13 and Xiaomi 15 Pro are starting to ship with periscope lenses and sub-4nm chipsets.

Despite all this, the Pixel 10 could still matter a lot. Pixel phones don’t win on brute force. They win on experience. Call Screen, Hold for Me, live translation, and Assistant at your fingertips. These are all features that turn Google’s phones into digital companions, not just pocket computers.

If the Pixel 10 tightens up the formula, enhances efficiency, and brings the next wave of Gemini-powered tools to a clean, stable phone? That’s a win for mainstream Android users. But if you were hoping for a radical Pixel Fold 2-style rethink? That’s not what the leaks are showing.

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Android malware remains a massive danger in 2025, with a June 5 mobile threat report from Kaspersky revealing that 12.1 million attacks were conducted on Android devices running Kaspersky software between January and March 2025.

Now, considering that number doesn't include the majority of the world's 3.3 billion Android OS devices that aren't using Kaspersky, you get an idea of the scale of this concern.

Trojans were the most common threat, accounting for 40% of the total malware infections. Trojans are viruses that trick you into installing them on your phone to steal data, gain access to your banking apps, spy on you, or drain cryptocurrency accounts, so they should not be taken lightly.

Let's examine the current malware landscape on Android and learn how to protect yourself against the most common threats.

The most vulnerable Android devices

Keeping your software and operating system up to date is one of the easiest ways to stay safe. Before delving deeper into the report's findings, it's worth noting that anyone running Android 12 (or earlier) on their device is particularly vulnerable. Google ended security updates for that version in March 2025. Since then, Google has patched 133 high-severity and four critical-severity threats.

Android 12 was launched in October 2021 and is currently installed on approximately 12% of all Android devices, according to Statcounter's May 2025 figures. That's nearly 400 million Android devices worldwide, including popular phones such as the Samsung Galaxy S10 lineup (released in March 2019) and Google's Pixel 3 (released in October 2018).

So, if you are someone who likes to hang onto your phone for a long time, this is the moment to let that old phone go and make the upgrade. Devices without security software updates pose a significant threat to your safety. The good news is that it doesn't have to be that expensive. Check our best phone deals for options starting as low as $169.

Mamont banking Trojan was the biggest threat in early 2025

Mamont is off to a banner year in 2025, which is not something you want to hear when it comes to malware. Between January and March, it accounted for three of the top five mobile malware threats, an increase of more than 15 percent compared to October to December of 2024.

How is Mamont spreading so fast? Social engineering is the key, as these Trojans masquerade as legit apps to gain high-level permissions on the victims' devices.

Mamont is a threat to anyone who sideloads apps, so be particularly wary if you’ve done so lately. Double-check your permissions and keep one eye on your bank account. Mamont can pose as the Chrome app, a delivery tracking app, or a video file, among numerous alternatives.

Don't buy that off-brand Android phone

Motorola offers affordable Android phones for under $200, so please don't bite on extreme budget Android phones.

See also: The Trump Mobile T1 phone: A ridiculous claim may doom it to fail

Kaspersky has found several off-brand phones loaded with a backdoor Trojan called Triada so far this year. The Trojan is active from the moment a user powers on their phone.

It can replace browser links, steal your login data, steal cryptocurrency, or inject malicious code into apps without you realizing it. The people behind Triada have stolen over a quarter of a million dollars in crypto from victims.

Your phone is your most valuable possession

In 2025, your phone will undoubtedly be the most valuable thing you own, as it has access to virtually everything else.

Again, this means ensuring you don't skip the operating system updates that your phone is prompting you about. Stop putting them off and update now; it'll only take a few minutes.

Only download apps from the Play Store. Although there have been instances of malware infiltrating the Play Store, it is vastly safer than installing apps from the open web.

Go to Settings and search for Permission Manager to review the permissions you've granted to every app on your phone. Pay careful attention to any apps with Accessibility or Device Admin rights, as these are often critical for malware.

Use a mobile antivirus app to protect your phone from malware further. These apps can move faster against attackers than a software update from Google or Samsung, so it's a sound early defense system.

Finally, for any critical accounts, enable two-factor authentication, as this can potentially stop cybercriminals from gaining access to your accounts even if your device is infected with malware.

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On Tuesday, Google announced on its Android developer blog that Android 16 started rolling out to supported Pixel devices, including several new features I've been itching to try on my Pixel 9a since they were announced on May 13 ahead of Google I/O 2025.

It may not be as exciting as a Google Pixel 10 announcement, but it means the Pixel phone (and more Android phones in the coming months) that you already own will be getting some enticing new upgrades. Google’s latest update offers a splash of fun additions, along with some upgrades that push Android even closer to becoming a potential laptop replacement for some users.

After digging through the announcements, here are the seven most exciting features in Android 16 that may get you to download it as soon as possible.

1. Desktop power with a connected display

Let's start with one of the most compelling features for us as laptop and mobile tech enthusiasts: the enhanced desktop experience when connected to an external display.

We've lived some form of this dream with Samsung Dex in recent years. In our Hot Swap series, one writer traded their laptop for a phone with Samsung Dex and a monitor, while another writer went even more mobile with a Samsung Dex phone and XR glasses.

Now, the rest of the Android world gets desktop-style performance when connecting your phone to a monitor or glasses via USB-C. This will now give you a taskbar, resizable windows, and the ability to run multiple apps side by side.

The phone display and monitor act independently, so you can also still pick up your phone when that's quicker than the desktop experience. Add a portable keyboard, such as the Logitech Keys-To-Go 2, and a small mouse, like the Targus ErgoFlip Ecosmart mouse, and you've got a complete laptop replacement that can fit in the smallest bags.

This feature is now in developer preview and coming in a general release later this year.

2. Material You is getting more expressive

Android 16 lays the groundwork for “Material 3 Expressive,” a fancier, more consistent version of Android’s visual design language. While the full changes are coming between July and September, early adopters will notice more polish in animations, layout spacing, and app transitions.

One important change: apps targeting Android 16 can no longer opt out of edge-to-edge layouts, meaning all apps will look more modern by default. It's not the massive visual refresh that Apple revealed with Liquid Glass at WWDC 2025 on Monday, but no one is going to be upset about a cleaner and more polished Android.

3. Creator camera upgrades

If your phone doubles as your camera rig, Android 16 is packed with perks. Night mode scene detection gets smarter, color temperature can now be fine-tuned, and motion photos are easier to capture with new built-in Intent actions.

Google also continues to push UltraHDR forward, adding support for HEIC encoding and integrating with professional video workflows thanks to the new Advanced Professional Video (APV) codec. Whether you are someone who knows what all of that means or not, the takeaway is that you'll have more tools to ensure your images look their best on Android.

4. Predictive back gestures

Back gestures are a pain point for a lot of people on Android, and they are getting smarter and more consistent. Android 16 introduces predictive back navigation by default, even for users who still prefer the classic three-button setup.

Now, when you swipe or press the back button, you’ll get a visual preview of where it’s going to take you, reducing the chances of accidentally quitting your app. On the developer side, they also have new system callbacks to fine-tune how their apps handle backpresses. This is one of those features that doesn't sound like a big deal, but it fixes an irritating problem.

5. Progress notification progress

While Android often beats the iPhone to punch on features, this is one where Google is playing catchup. Ever wonder how long your Uber is going to take or if your food’s still on the way? Android 16 introduces a new framework for building smarter, more visually clear progress notifications.

Developers can now use segments and milestones to show real-time updates for tasks like deliveries or navigation. It’s a sneak peek into Android’s upcoming “Live Updates” feature, and it should make your status bar a lot more informative.

6. Android apps adapting

As Android spreads across more form factors — foldables, tablets, and now desktop displays — it needs to get better at adapting apps to any screen size or orientation.

Android 16 solves this problem by removing aspect ratio restrictions on devices with large displays (600dpi and up), meaning apps will automatically stretch to fill the screen — even if they weren’t originally designed to. It also adds better support for resizability, portrait/landscape switching, and dynamic display changes. If you are a longtime Android tablet user like me that has felt the pain of clunky looking Android tablet apps, this should be a game-changing upgrade.

7. Under-the-hood tune-up

It's not all about new features; Android 16 adds better CPU and GPU usage tracking for games and demanding apps, smarter job scheduling for background tasks, and system-triggered performance profiling.

On the privacy side, users can now limit access to shared media for apps on an individual basis. Accessibility also gets a big win with new outline text for higher contrast and expanded support for hearing aids via Auracast.

What's next?

Android 16 isn’t a flashy overhaul, but it’s a smart and focused update that improves the Android experience and solves a few long-standing pain points for users on traditional phones, foldables, and tablets.

If you own a supported Pixel device, you should be seeing the update soon. And if you own a Samsung, OnePlus, Motorola, or other Android phone, you'll likely see the update in the coming months.

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At a time when most AI tools are racing behind ever-taller paywalls, Microsoft just did something wild: It opened the gates to OpenAI’s Sora video model for free.

There is no $20 ChatGPT Plus subscription, no enterprise contract, just the Bing mobile app, a Microsoft account, and a bit of patience.

The catch? It’s only five seconds of vertical video at 480p. Oh, and you’ll need to earn Microsoft Rewards points if you want that video faster than “sometime today.”

Still, it’s the first time OpenAI’s Sora, the viral text-to-video model capable of generating scenes that look like miniature Pixar shorts, is available to the masses without a subscription.

While the Bing implementation comes with plenty of guardrails, compromises, and ecosystem nudges, it might be the most accessible way to experiment with state-of-the-art AI video yet.

AI video for the people

Bing Video Creator lives inside Microsoft’s Bing search app for iOS and Android, and the setup is frictionless:

1. Log in with a Microsoft account
2. Type a scene prompt into the search bar
3. Hit create

The AI handles the rest, generating a five-second vertical video clip based on your description

Behind the scenes, Microsoft is using Sora. This is the same model available to $20/month ChatGPT Plus users or $200/month Pro subscribers, but it’s offering it to Bing users for free. The result is democratized access to one of the most advanced AI video generators ever made, albeit with a few strings attached.

Those strings include the video resolution (480p), the aspect ratio (vertical only), and the maximum length (five seconds). It’s clear Microsoft is using this as a taster of what Sora can do, rather than the full experience available to premium users.

But it’s still powerful. Even in this stripped-down form, the model can generate lush, animated clips with complex lighting, realistic movement, and surreal flourishes.

Think “astronauts dancing in space,” or “a glowing koi fish swimming through neon clouds.” If you can describe it, Sora can sketch it in motion.

Hurry up and wait

There are two generation speeds: Standard and Fast. Everyone gets access to Standard, which can take several hours to generate a single video. That’s fine if you’re casually experimenting, but it’s far from real-time.

Fast mode, on the other hand, gets you results in seconds. But you only get 10 free Fast generations. After that, you’ll need to cash in Microsoft Rewards points, earned by using Bing, Microsoft Edge, or Xbox. One Fast video costs 100 points. A single Bing search gets you five points.

There’s no direct way to pay for faster results. If you want more, you’ll need to do more inside Microsoft’s ecosystem, which is exactly the point.

The setup encourages exactly the kind of behavioral shift Microsoft’s been chasing for years: Use Bing, ditch Google. And with Sora as bait, that strategy might finally have teeth.

Once you’ve generated your video, Bing stores it in-app for 90 days.

Not quite the full Sora

Let’s not pretend this is the same experience as ChatGPT Pro. Sora’s premium version offers up to 60-second 1080p videos, horizontal or square framing, and powerful creative controls like storyboards, camera paths, and scene composition.

Bing’s version is basic: prompt in, clip out. The videos are visibly rougher, too, with some jittery animation and a cartoonish sheen that OpenAI’s flagship versions smooth over. Everything comes with a C2PA watermark, signaling that it’s AI-generated content.

Still, the core engine is the same. And for casual creators, educators, meme-makers, and social media managers, the output is more than good enough.

All in all, this is obviously a strategic play by Microsoft. By baking Sora into Bing, the company is using AI as an engagement funnel, drawing users into its ecosystem through one of the most buzzworthy tools on the internet.

And it’s working. If you’ve ever been tempted by AI video but balked at the cost, the idea that you can now generate clips on your phone, for free, using one of the most advanced models in existence is a powerful hook.

Just don’t expect a full studio in your pocket. This is Sora on a leash. But it’s a very long leash that might get users to stay a little longer inside Microsoft’s world.

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It's a busy time for the tech industry. Companies are holding their annual events, setting up upcoming software releases, and previewing what’s coming with new devices set to launch in the fall.

Google will hold its annual Google I/O event on Tuesday, the same time as Microsoft Build 2025 and the Asian tech expo Computex. It will also happen weeks before Apple's big event, the Worldwide Developers Conference on June 9.

Google I/O 2025 is a big event for the company. It's in the middle of all the tech trends right now. It's developing new devices to keep up with Apple, pushing its AI to stay right on top of Microsoft, and still offering a variety of services, whether it be Google Cloud, Chrome, or even YouTube, that are either the top dog in their fields or put the company right up there.

How to watch Google I/O 2025?

Google I/O takes place on Tuesday, May 20, with the keynote speech starting at 1 p.m. Eastern. The speech will be streamed on Google's Developers YouTube channel.

Here's what we're expecting to see during the keynote speech.

Google Smart Glasses

On May 13, Google's Android Show focused on the upcoming changes for Android 16, which should be released sometime in June. Sameer Samat, president of Android Ecosystem, hosted the show. At the end of the event, he put on sunglasses, teasing that there would be some news coming at Google I/O.

Smart glasses are the current hot tech trend, with Meta's Ray-Ban glasses being the current market leader. Apple is reportedly working on its version, and it makes sense for Google to make its own.

Google was the first to release smart glasses when it released Google Glass in 2013. However, the price and lack of functionality made them unattractive at the time.

It's a different story in 2025, with technology getting smaller and cheaper, making smart glasses easier to produce while offering many possibilities. Powering these glasses will be Android XR, an operating system for headsets and glasses. Expect a chunk of the show to be dedicated to these new glasses.

Gemini

Even though Google smart glasses might be the show's breakout star, the main character will be Gemini.

Google released its Gemini 2.5 model in March and expects it to be in everything the company produces, whether hardware, software, or services.

Wear OS

The next version of Wear OS is coming. Wear OS 6 was shown during the Android Show, and as expected, it will use Gemini, although there is more.

The wearable OS will have a new look for Pixel Watch and show more data at a quick glance. Expect to see even more features for Wear OS during Google I/O.

Android 16

Even though the Android Show covered Android 16, there are likely some more features to discuss. What those features could be remains unclear, but Google wouldn't have an I/O show without discussing the next Android release.

Google TV

Google TV, the company's operating system for smart TVs, is currently using Android 14, and it's time for an upgrade. Google TV usually updates to the new version of Android every two years, which means it should be jumping to Android 16.

If it does, expect to see more features for smart TVs, and very likely, the incorporation of Gemini into Google TV.

Pinterest Alternative?

A new Pinterest-like social media platform from Google could be an interesting surprise. The Information reported that Google is looking to release an app that enables users to put together their pictures into shared collections.

It's hard to tell what Google is cooking with this platform, but that's why there are shows like Google I/O to showcase it.

Google Chrome

While Google is still dealing with the legal matters involving Chrome and the monopoly the company has that could require it to tell the internet browser, it might as well reveal some new features for it. If there are new features for the browser, like everything else in the show, expect it to incorporate Gemini.

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Google may have just given us its biggest hint yet about a pair of Android smart glasses that could make an apperance at Google I/O next week.

It's been a couple of years since Google finally shuttered its ill-fated Google Glass AR glasses, but it looks like Google isn't giving up yet.

An Android Show video streamed Tuesday on the Android YouTube channel may have included a sneaky tease of Google's rumored Android-powered smart glasses.

Here's a look at what we know so far about Google's potential return to smart glasses and the pitfall Google will need to watch out for this time.

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Google teases Android smart glasses ahead of Google I/O

The live stream unpacked some recent Android updates, but the most interesting part of the show came near its end.

Sameer Samat, Android Ecosystem President, closed things out with a short promo for Google I/O, stating:

"Join us for an exciting Google I/O in just a few days. We'll have deep dives from developers, the latest on Google Gemini, and maybe even a few more really cool Android demos. See you on May 20."

As Samat says, "A few more really cool Android demos," he slips on a pair of black sunglasses. The frames are chunky black plastic, and there appear to be circular indents on each side — in the exact spots where cameras would be on a pair of smart glasses.

This couldn't have been a more obvious hint if Samat had ended by winking directly into the camera.

The implication is clear: one of the "really cool Android demos" coming up at Google I/O could very well be a pair of Android-powered smart glasses.

This hint comes after rumors of a private Google smart glasses demo last month, and as Google's rival Meta goes all-in on smart glasses.

There is a smart glasses showdown brewing. Google's potential return to the smart glasses market is no coincidence. Meta is pouring attention into its Ray-Ban AI smart glasses, which are expected to get a big refresh later this year. At the same time, there are rumors that Apple is developing a chip for a pair of smart glasses.

Can Google learn from Meta's experiences with user privacy?

It's no surprise that Google is returning to smart glasses despite its failure with Google Glass. The glasses Samat briefly wore in the most recent Android Show Livestream certainly look strikingly similar to Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses.

While it's nothing exciting, the design is definitely a step up from the blocky Matrix-like look of Google Glass. The question is, what else has Google changed this time around?

Considering we got this sneak peek on the Android Show, it seems likely that this pair of smart glasses will be running on Android, or some sort of modified version of it.

Additionally, I hope Google is paying attention to the controversy surrounding privacy on Meta's Ray-Ban glasses. Privacy is a natural concern when you're walking around wearing a device that can record audio and video at the sound of a simple activation phrase.

Meta took things a step further recently by tweaking its privacy policy to require users to allow Meta to store certain audio and video data in the cloud to improve and train its AI.

While Google isn't exactly a paragon of data privacy, hopefully, they'll pay attention to the concerns over Meta's move with its smart glasses.

If Google commits to respecting user privacy and allowing them to control where and how data from their glasses is stored, it could give Google's new Android-powered smart glasses an edge on Meta.

Either way, we'll soon find out exactly what Google envisions for its Android smart glasses at Google I/O, which will kick off on May 20.

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Two years after Google discontinued its ill-fated Google Glass AR glasses, the company is back in the smartglasses game with a mysterious new prototype that could help it compete with Meta.

At the TED2025 conference in Vancouver this week, Shahram Izadi, Google's VP and general manager of XR, showed off a pair of unnamed mixed reality, AI-powered smartglasses in development at Google.

The prototype glasses may put Google back on the map in a market that's beginning to heat up.

The question is, if Google is returning to smartglasses, does it still stand a chance of competing with Meta's cutting-edge Orion glasses?

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Google returns to smartglasses with XR glasses prototype

During session 3 of TED2025 on Tuesday, Google offered a sneak preview of its new Android XR operating system alongside a mysteriously unnamed pair of smartglasses.

Both are clear indicators that Google will make a return to the world of smartglasses, apparently undeterred by the failure of Google Glass, which spawned the term "glasshole" precisely a decade ago.

During his TED Talk, Izadi wore a pair of inconspicuous smartglasses, using them to display and read off his notes. According to Izadi, the glasses have an in-lens camera, which is a clever design addition, but the demo of it only lasted a few seconds, so it's difficult to gauge image quality.

The prototype glasses also had a speaker, microphone, and built-in Google Gemini connectivity. During the demo, Gemini was able to use the camera in the glasses to translate text and use visual input for context for tasks and questions.

It's unclear if Google ever plans to offer this version of the glasses to consumers or if they're simply a proof-of-concept. Google certainly seems to be ramping up its smartglasses development, though, including recent negotiations to acquire a company that makes AR eye-tracking software. Between that acquisition and this overall impressive demo, Google is trying to get back in the game.

Is it too late for Google to catch up to the Meta Ray-Bans?

Can Google Glass 2.0 compete with Meta's Orion glasses?

There is a growing number of brands competing to rule the smartglasses market, like VITURE with its Pro XR glasses or the Meta-powered Ray-Bans. The current leader is Meta, though, which stunned us last year with the first look at its Orion smartglasses.

The Orion glasses could be the most advanced mixed reality smartglasses to date, but they aren't publicly available yet. They feature much more advanced displays and controls than most currently available smartglasses, meaning Orion could be an instant hit once Meta launches them for the public.

So, it's no coincidence that Google is trying to return to the ring to challenge Meta in the smartglasses market, especially since Apple, another big rival, seemingly abandoned its smartglasses plans earlier this year.

Google's unnamed prototype glasses don't appear to be quite as advanced as Meta's Orion glasses, but both are demo products, so a lot could change by the time either launches. Price and design are also important considerations, as well as AI capabilities.

If Google can deliver less expensive or more streamlined glasses — or integrate Gemini more effectively than Meta with its Meta AI — Google glasses could stand a chance against Orion even if they aren't quite as advanced.

Of course, it's also possible that the demo glasses Google showed off this week were just that, a demo.

Google may be prioritizing developing its Android XR operating system and betting on partners like Samsung to build the hardware.

In January, Youtuber Marques Brownlee tested out an Android XR headset with Gemini, made by Samsung, as the video above shows.

Either way, this is another exciting turning point in what's shaping up to be a major year for smartglasses and mixed reality tech.

More from Laptop Mag

• Meta is hell-bent on making 2025 the year of smartglasses — and I've never been more ready
• Meta's Orion smartglasses are a glimmer of our mixed-reality future
• Why Apple's scrapped smartglasses are a bad omen for the Vision Pro

Qualcomm unveiled its latest line of chips this week, designed to power the next generation of handheld gaming devices.

While some outlets have reported that its chip is designed for handheld PC gaming, akin to AMD and Intel's presence in the Asus ROG Ally and MSI Claw 8 AI+, respectively, that's not exactly true. These chips are designed for Android.

Qualcomm's announcement on Monday explicitly stated that each of these chips is designed for Android handheld gaming devices, including the Snapdragon G3 Gen 3, Snapdragon G2 Gen 2, and Snapdragon G1 Gen 2. Depending on how you intend to game, each chip is for a different type of device.

That would be fine, save for one tiny issue: Android is losing a war against Apple, and handheld gaming devices are suffering as a result.

Mobile gaming has a "console wars" problem

Mobile gaming not only has a lack of game ports, but a notable exclusivity war that's brewing as a result of Apple's efforts.

iOS and iPadOS have never been a stranger to exclusive applications, but it has begun normalizing exclusive ports of PC and console games onto Apple devices. These include Resident Evil 3 (and Resident Evil 2, 4, 7, and Village), Death Stranding Director's Cut, Assassin's Creed Mirage, and more.

Many of these games (excluding Death Stranding) are available on Windows, Xbox consoles, and PlayStation consoles simultaneously, yet within the mobile market, there is a line being drawn in the sand on which game gets to go where, as seen with consoles.

Of course, it doesn't mean excitement about a new degree of power for Android handheld gaming devices isn't warranted, but when the market itself has companies creating barriers between the games that are available, Android's place in gaming is becoming less and less convincing — especially when handheld gaming PCs are here and offer access to more titles.

What's in the Qualcomm Snapdragon G Series chips?

Qualcomm announced three Snapdragon G Series chips: The Snapdragon G3 Gen 3, Snapdragon G2 Gen 2, and Snapdragon G1 Gen 2.

The Snapdragon G3 Gen 3 is designed for "enthusiast gaming" and features support for Lumen, which is Unreal Engine 5's dynamic global illumination and reflections system. It has an 8-core Qualcomm Kyre CPU with 1 prime, 5 performance, and 2 efficiency cores, and is powered by the Qualcomm Adreno A32 GPU with ray tracing support. In simpler terms, it boasts 30% faster processing power and 28 faster graphical power than the previous generation.

Snapdragon G2 Gen 2 is for "mainstream gaming," and is meant for a mix of dedicated and cloud gaming at up to 144 fps. It has 2.3x processing power and 3.8x graphical power upgrade compared to the previous generation.

And finally, Snapdragon G1 Gen 2 is for "cloud gaming," and as you can expect, it's intended to bring up to 1080p at 120 fps over wifi. It's reportedly 80% faster in processing and 25% faster in graphical power than the previous generation.

Android handhelds aren't ideal for gaming enthusiasts

It's no secret that Android has never been ideal for gaming. Multiplayer titles like Genshin Impact, Honkai: Star Rail and Fortnite do well on the platform, but those interested in mainstream AAA games are blocked by a limited library. Even then, games like Alien: Isolation still make it on there.

Comparatively, Apple is positively kicking Android's butt in this department, with aforementioned titles like the Resident Evil series, Death Stranding, and new Assassin's Creed games available to play on iPhone.

Plain and simple: Android's lack of ports makes dedicated handhelds utilizing the platform far less enticing, especially when Windows gaming handhelds have nearly everything available to play.

So sure, Qualcomm might be pushing further in the handheld gaming market, but it may be backing the wrong horse in the process.

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If you've ever considered switching from iOS to Android, I bet I can guess exactly what stopped you—it starts with "G" and ends in "reen bubble."

iOS has long stigmatized Android users by choosing not to support standard features in text messaging. Up until recently, that included read receipts, typing indicators, group messages, high-res pics, and even delivered receipts. Ya' know... normal messaging stuff.

Since then, all of those missing features have been amended to support RCS messaging. This means that if you have an Android phone that uses RCS, you can have a semi-normal texting experience with someone who has an iPhone.

And now, another major domino is falling in favor of Android. iOS will soon support end-to-end encrypted messaging, which has long been a key feature of iOS-to-iOS communication. That's a big win for keeping both iOS and Android users safe.

It also begs the question: with all of those features finally adopted, will the green bubble stigma finally get tossed out with them? I, for one, wouldn't count on it.

The code is cracked

According to a recent announcement from the GSMA, a trade group representing mobile networking companies, a new protocol called Message Layer Security has finally cracked the code for interoperable encryption between Android and iOS.

"These procedures ensure that messages and other content such as files remain confidential and secure as they travel between clients. That means that RCS will be the first large-scale messaging service to support interoperable E2EE between client implementations from different providers," the GSMA said in a statement.

Needless to say, this is a major win for ensuring privacy between platforms and for any company selling Android phones.

The lack of full-featured messaging between platforms has long been a sticking point for anyone already part of the iOS ecosystem. With that mostly mitigated, users can travel more freely between platforms.

As a longtime iPhone user who's reviewed a few Android phones in recent years, I can say for certain that there is much less disparity between the two platforms than there used to be. The only thing holding me back personally is Apple's Messages app.

Both operating systems have mostly the same feature set, employ a similar UI, and run smoothly (most of the time) on the devices they power. So, with all of that evened out, Android phones should be more appealing to longtime iOS users than ever.

Save for one obvious drawback.

It's too easy being green

One notable difference between iOS and non-iOS messages on iPhone that you may have noted is... they're still green.

So, even with all of the progress over the past few years, the Android stigma is still alive and well. And while I couldn't blame anyone for getting hopeful that green bubble stigma might change, too, I personally won't be getting my hopes up. My pessimism comes from a couple of places.

For one, there's still a huge incentive on Apple's part to continue to differentiate Android and iOS messages. What I mean is, the longer Apple visually convinces people that they're receiving a text that's different (read: lesser) in some way, the longer they can justify sticking with iOS.

But it's not just Apple's own incentive that has me down on the prospect of blue-bubbling Android texts, though. Part of the impetus for the big feature shift over the last year was pressure from regulators in the European Union.

Thanks to a push from the EU, we've seen some significant holes blasted in Apple's walled garden, including discontinuing the Lightning port in favor of the more egalitarian USB-C.

Like the push for RCS, the push for green bubbles has centered on the claim that Apple's behavior (its lack of USB-C adoption) is anti-competitive. While you could claim that using green bubbles is equally anti-competitive, the argument feels flimsier.

Lightning ports and USB-C are specific technologies with advantages and disadvantages. But green versus blue? That feels a little bit more subjective. I'm not saying the case couldn't be made, but it feels much less sturdy than the more significant battles over the App Store or charging ports.

I guess if you were to give the idea of ending green bubbles any credence, there is a significant amount of support from the likes of Google or Samsung, but that might have little sway on regulators who have proven to be the only real factor in forcing Apple to change its platform.

Pessimistic though I may be over the end of the green bubble, I'd be the first person to celebrate the shift. Android phones are better and more affordable than ever, so I could easily see myself jumping ship.

Until then, however, I'll stick to what I know and keep my bubble blue for everyone's sake.

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Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates recently discussed his "greatest mistake ever" while running the company when he sat down for an interview at Village Global with Eventbrite CEO Julia Hartz.

In full, Gates said, "the greatest mistake ever is whatever mismanagement I engaged in that caused Microsoft not to be what Android is." According to Gates, this was a mistake that cost the company roughly $400 billion.

For reference, Microsoft tried to dive into the mobile space by launching the first Windows Mobile phone in 2002. This was before Google acquired Android in 2005, before Apple debuted the iPhone in 2007, and before the first commercial Android phone launched in 2008.

Another piece of comical, related history is former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer in 2007 saying, "There’s no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share," famously one of the worst tech predictions of all time.

In response to Gates sharing his biggest blunder, Android co-founder Rich Miner explained on X that his reasoning for creating Android in the first place was to prevent Microsoft from becoming what Android is now. Miner writes, "sorry Bill, you're more responsible for [losing] the $400B than you realize."

And when you hear the full spiel Gates had for Hartz in the interview, you might see where Miner's coming from.

Gates says, "There's room for exactly one non-Apple operating system."

Gates describes the software world as having "winner-take-all markets," which kind of sounds like a less scary way to say monopoly markets. He further explains, "Android is the standard non-Apple phone platform. That was a natural thing for Microsoft to win. It really is winner take all."

It's this last statement that really gets me, though. Gates says "There's room for exactly one non-Apple operating system." While it may be true that Android is currently the only other major alternative to iOS, I certainly wouldn't say there's only room for two operating systems and I hope other OS alternatives pop up as worthy competitors in the future.

When there's a duopoly controlling the mobile OS market — Android and iOS — it stifles innovation. That's not to say Apple and Google aren't creating helpful new features, tools, and design elements at all to benefit smartphone users. But progress and innovation would be more robust with more strong competition, not less.

Rich Miner appears to agree. On X, Miner says he "literally helped create Android to prevent Microsoft from controlling the phone the way they did the PC." When you look at how stagnant Windows has been for the past decade (aside from maybe the last year or two), it's easy to see where Miner is coming from.

According to his tweet, Miner "helped Orange launch the first Windows Mobile phone in 2002" and "worried [Microsoft] might end up controlling mobile like they did the PC." He "wanted something more open," which is certainly what Android is now, albeit controlled by major player Google.

It wasn't until Windows laptops were being grossly overshadowed by performance and battery benchmarks from Apple laptops that the company finally started wondering how to effectively get Windows on Arm to work. Because of Microsoft's stagnation with Windows, open-source Linux OS has also grown in popularity in recent years.

Either way, Microsoft's "$400 billion mistake" might be a moot point since Apple seems to be dominating the competition — both in laptops and phones — anyway.

Samsung's first Galaxy Unpacked event of 2025 is just around the corner, officially revealed to be taking place on January 22. In the meantime, leaks surrounding the company's latest Galaxy S25 Series of smartphones continue to pour in.

The latest, shared in a now-deleted X post by reputable leaker Evan Blass, appears to be official promotional shots of the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S25 and S25 Plus (shown below).

The images purportedly showcase Samsung's push to reduce display bezels, a new camera rim design, its overall design, and a familiar look at each's camera array. However, what's on the screen might be more interesting than anything else.

While the hardware hardcore may be distracted by the device's smoothed corners and amped in speculation over its lenses, I'm more interested in the reveal of the expected One UI 7 "Now Bar." A new Galaxy AI-powered feature that Samsung claims will be a "defining element" of its Android-based interface.

Samsung's "Now Bar," a different kind of Dynamic Island

Originally showcased in a November blog post to the Samsung Newsroom, One UI 7's new "Now Bar" feels suspiciously like Apple's Dynamic Island, which debuted on the iPhone 14 Pro models in 2022. However, Samsung's version of this may potentially have the upper hand, mostly because it could actually be good.

While Apple's Dynamic Island wasn't quite the groundbreaking piece of innovation its reveal reel would have led you to believe (eventually slipping into little more than a fancy notification bar), Samsung's Now Bar aims to integrate everyday actions into a widget-like bar for the device's lock screen. Better still, it won't require a large pill-shaped punch-out hole to do so.

Samsung's Now Bar will offer instant access to media controls, sleep and fitness insights, navigation assistance, and even recommendations on actions you can take to optimize your day-to-day phone use. Simply swiping the Now Bar offers you a selection of relevant slices of information based on your activities and most used apps. It can even offer a handy recap of events once the day is done.

While it's easy to pass this feature off as just another all-in-one widget, the fact that it seems to blend so tightly into One UI 7 and make effective use of Galaxy AI to ensure its recommendations are uniquely tuned to each user suggests more.

It's a bit like having a convenient way to scroll through your most important updates without needing to juggle several apps in the process. It's also a great way of breaking things down into bite-sized, easily absorbed doses of info, and effectively eradicating the "doom" from your doomscrolling in the process.

Samsung's Now Bar is more proactive than it is reactive, potentially making the next batch of Galaxy S25 phones feel smarter and more convenient in response — if it's handled right.

What's next?

We'd expect to see more of the Now Bar during the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Unpacked event on January 22. It's here that we're also expecting to see the Galaxy S25 Series in full, with several other new Galaxy AI features sure to be unveiled.

The Now Bar has promise, but so did the iPhone's Dynamic Island. Promise alone won't guarantee success, just ask Bixby.

Whether or not the Now Bar dramatically changes how Galaxy smartphone users interact with their devices remains to be seen, but if Samsung and third-party developers can apply some creativity to this space, it could become a fantastic utility and a real draw for Samsung's One UI.

However, if the Now Bar fails to catch on, it may become yet another forgotten gimmick, a once heralded "defining" feature that turns out to be all hype, no bite.

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The Razer Kishi V2 Mobile Gaming Controller turns your phone into a handheld gaming rig. For a limited time, you can now snag one at a massive 60% discount.

Amazon has the Razer Kishi V2 Mobile Gaming Controller for $39. That's $40 off its regular price of $79 and the lowest price ever for this phone controller. It's one of the best gaming deals of the season.

If you want to game on the go and don't want to buy a separate gaming handheld like a Nintendo Switch or Lenovo Legion Go. It connects to most Android phones via a center-mounted USB-C port to convert your phone into a handheld gaming console, complete with D-pad, ABXY buttons, and thumbstick controls. It supports cloud gaming via various popular services, so you can access your favorite AAA games on the go.

If you want to game on your phone and love tactile controls, act fast to grab this limited-time deal at Amazon on the Razer Kishi V2 Mobile Gaming Controller.

Today's best Razer Kishi V2 deal

Tablets have something of an unfortunate reputation. Most are relegated to glorified modern-day portable DVD players, machines that are only good for Netflix. While there may have been some validity to that once upon a time, that's not true anymore. A good tablet can replace your laptop for many tasks once you add a mouse and a keyboard. However, many people still prefer to simply use tablets to watch TV shows or movies, especially on the go.

My wife and I are no exception. We keep a tablet on the kitchen table specifically for watching TV shows during meals. It's convenient but not ideal, and that's mainly for one reason. Most tablets have lousy speakers.

That's why I was intrigued when Lenovo launched the Lenovo Tab Plus. The tablet sports an unusual design, which solves two problems you run into when watching movies. The first is the aforementioned sound. The second is a way to prop up the tablet to watch. My wife and I used to keep a tablet stand on the table along with the tablet. We don't have to do that anymore. Here's why.

Hardware tour

When you look at the Lenovo Tab Plus, one thing really sticks out. While the top half is a mere 7.7mm thick, the bottom half is nearly double that, at 13.6mm. The bottom of the tablet sports a built-in kickstand, which can position the tablet at different angles up to 175 degrees. It also has two side-firing speaker grilles on each side. The lower speakers are so big that they almost look like card slots. We'll talk about those in more depth in a moment.

In the upper left corner of the tablet (in landscape orientation) are the volume and power buttons. There's a pin-ejected microSD card slot on top and a headphone jack on the lower left side. The screen is an 11.5-inch IPS LCD panel with a 90Hz refresh rate and a resolution of 1,200 x 2,000 pixels, which makes for a reasonably sharp 203 pixels per inch (ppi). The processor is a MediakTek Helio G99 paired with 8 GB of RAM and 128 or 256GB of onboard storage.

If you aren’t blown away by these specs, that’s fair, its raw specs aren’t that impressive, but that’s part of why it carries a sub-$300 price tag. But the speakers are where this tab earns its keep in a big way.

Booming sound

There are eight JBL speakers in this tablet totalling over 26W of sound. There are a combination of four tweeters and four woofers giving you a full range of sound that I have never heard coming from a tablet. Of course, before we go any further, you need to mentally add the words "for a tablet" to everything I'm going to say in this section. While this tablet boasts an impressive sound profile, it is still a tablet that tops out at 13mm deep. This is not a speaker you would hook up to your sound system on your TV, but it's still impressive — for a tablet.

It's eye-opening the first time you put on a movie with any kind of bass, such as Top Gun: Maverick for example. The bass almost feels like it's going to rumble (even if it doesn't quite get there). But if you switch back to a different tablet like the Pixel Tablet or your smartphone, you'll notice the disparity right away. Lenovo is even so confident in its tablet’s sound that it’s pairable as a Bluetooth speaker when it's not otherwise in use.

One odd thing that's missing is an equalizer. There's no EQ built into the tablet. You can download apps to adjust the EQ, but it seems like such low-hanging fruit for a tablet like this that I'm surprised Lenovo didn't include it. That's particularly baffling since the default wallpaper on the tablet is a visualization of a sound spectrum. There is a Dolby Atmos setting you can change from Dynamic to Movie to Music, but that's it.

Some other minor flaws

When my wife and I took this on a recent cruise, it was our primary entertainment source. We paired it to our phones to play music, and we watched a couple of shows on it as well. The tablet doesn't get bright enough for direct sunlight (Lenovo claims a peak of 400 nits), which is unfortunate — especially for a cruise. The tablet comes with a nice faux leather case that you slide the tablet into upside down, so it travels well.

The LCD screen is also just…fine. It's a weird compromise on a tablet that seems designed to be a premium content-focused tablet. The sound that comes from this tablet does a lot of heavy lifting on that front, but its otherwise middling specs are enough. Combined with the sub-$300 price, undercutting the $349 base iPad 10, this is a great tablet to keep on the kitchen table or toss into your bag when you're going out of town.

Tablets don't often have superior sound — it's usually one of the first corners cut to keep costs down. So it's nice to see Lenovo focusing on such an important aspect of the content consumption experience, and I for one am here for it.

Cord-cutters, TV series bingers, and movie buffs, listen up. You can get Paramount Plus free for 30 days to watch the hit drama series, MobLand, which premiered on March 30, 2025. You'll also get access to other hit TV series and blockbuster movies.

Paramount Plus is one of the best streaming services around, with a massive catalog of movies and TV shows. If you're on the fence, enjoy 30 days of Paramount Plus for free via coupon, "NEWSEASONS" when you redeem this Paramount Plus offer. Alternatively, you can get Paramount Plus at no extra cost with a free Walmart Plus 30-day trial.

This step-by-step guide will show you how to get Paramount Plus free for 30 days to watch the popular drama series, MobLand starring Tom Hardy, Pierce Brosnan, and Helen Mirren.

You'll also get access to Paramount Plus originals and popular shows like Big Brother, Criminal Minds Evolution, NCIS, SEAL TEAM, Tulsa King, and more — all for free.

New Paramount Plus customers can start enjoying their free Paramount Plus 30-day trial in just a few easy steps. This is one of the best free trials for watching free live TV, shows, and movies.

Paramount Plus free 30-day trial

Paramount Plus is worth considering if you want to switch from cable, and it makes a great gift for any occasion. Subscribers can watch movies, TV shows, and live TV on up to three devices. It works with Android and iOS, PlayStation, Xbox, Chromecast, Fire TV, and more.

Paramount Plus offers two tiers of service plans. The base tier, Paramount Plus Essential, costs $7.99/mo or $59.99 a year ($5/mo). This plan includes thousands of TV shows and movies, NFL on CBS live, top soccer games, limited ads, and CBSN 24/7 live news.

The upper tier, Paramount Plus with Showtime, is priced at $12.99/mo. Or $119.99 annually ($10/mo.). You get everything in the base tier plus more live sports, no ads (except for live TV and some shows), your local CBS live channel, and download functionality.

Yet another way to get Paramount Plus free for 30 days is to subscribe to the streaming service. This comes in the form of a 10% off coupon, which takes $5 off your annual subscription. Since you're already paying $5 a month under this plan, it's like you're getting a free month.

Securing yourself a 10% Paramount Plus discount is a simple three-step process. First, choose the Paramount Plus Essential plan from the Paramount Plus Pick Your Plan page. Next, enter coupon "AARP in the "Have a coupon code?" drop-down menu on the Payment Method page. You should see the 10% discount applied at checkout. Enter your first and last name, billing address, and credit card or PayPal payment information.

If you don't want to commit or just want to binge-watch some shows over a shorter period, Paramount Plus consistently offers a free 7-day trial. You will not be charged if you cancel your plan before your trial ends. If you decide to keep Paramount Plus, you will be automatically billed after your trial ends. You may cancel your Paramount Plus plan at any time, so there's no risk.

So if you want to ditch your cable company for a streaming service, here's how to get Paramount Plus free for 30 days.

Following its Sept. 26 reveal, the Samsung Galaxy S24 FE AI is available for preorder starting from $649 at the Samsung Store. If you're long overdue for an upgrade, yet strapped for cash, this deal is for you.

For a limited time, preorder the Galaxy S24 FE and save up to $400 when you trade in your old device. Plus, stack your savings with add-ons and save 50% on the Galaxy Buds FE (valued at $100) or Galaxy Watch FE (valued at $200 with your purchase. Additionally, make your purchase using the Shop Samsung App and save an extra $50 on your first order. That's a total of $450 in savings if you receive the highest value via trade-in.

If you want to save big on your next phone, this deal is one I'd consider.

Today's best Samsung Galaxy S24 FE preorder deal

Samsung's new Galaxy S24 FE offers the best qualities of the Galaxy S24 flagship for a lower price. Take a look at the specs and you'll see you're getting a great value for the price. For just under $650, the Galaxy S24 FE affords you a 6.7-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X 120Hz touchscreen and runs on Samsung's Exynos 2400 10-core CPU with 8GB of RAM, and Samsung Xclipse 940 GPU.

Rounding out its attributes are a 50MP rear camera, 10MP front camera, and 256GB of storage,

This latest addition to the Galaxy AI family harnesses the power of AI-based ProVisual Engine and Galaxy AI’s nifty Photo Assist for its enhanced built-in camera. With the Samsung Galaxy S24 FE, capturing stunning-looking photos and videos for social media or your personal life diary is virtually foolproof. Nightography featuring AI image signal processing makes it possible to take gorgeous pictures in low-light settings.

The phone's excellent triple-camera array consists of a 50MP wide lens, 12MP ultra-wide lens, and 8MP telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom and optical image stabilization (OIS). All you have to do is frame your subject, point, and snap. What's more, the 10MP selfie camera gathers plenty of light and does a great job of making you look good.

With savings of up to $400 via Samsung's preorder deal, the Galaxy S24 FE is a budget-friendly choice. If you don't see yourself spending $1000 for a flagship Android phone, the Galaxy S24 FE is the way to go.

Using a slow phone can make you want to chuck it across the room, especially if you're trying to get something done quickly. Luckily, there's an easy setting you can change in just a few minutes to make your phone feel faster.

This nifty hack I discovered won't actually make your phone faster — only updated software and hardware or possibly clearing out old apps and files can do that. Instead, this trick makes your phone look and feel faster.

If you haven't guessed it yet, I'm talking about changing your Android's animation speed. By speeding up or eliminating animations, your slow phone will feel rejuvenated, like it was when you first got it. You can even remove animations altogether, but using your phone without animations might take some getting used to.

Whether you're trying to breathe new life into an old phone or make a new phone feel even faster, here's how to change animation speed on Android.

How to change animation speed on Android

Changing animation speed on Android is a two-step process. First, you have to enable Developer Options, a hidden tool that allows access to more advanced settings. Once that's enabled, you can start adjusting animation speed.

Because some settings in Developer Options can be dangerous to your phone if used incorrectly, there's not a simple toggle switch to enable and disable it. To enable Developer Options, here's what you'll want to do: 

1. Navigate to your phone's Settings menu.

2. Scroll down and tap About phone from the Settings menu. If you have a Samsung Galaxy phone like me, you might need to then tap the Software information option before the next step.

3. Locate your phone's Build number and tap it seven times to enable Developer Options in your settings menu. Depending on your settings, you might need to enter a PIN, password, or pattern to enable Developer Options.

Once you've successfully enabled Developer Options, you can start the process of changing animation speed.

1. Find the newly enabled Developer Options in your phone's settings menu. On my Galaxy S21 Ultra, it appears as an option under About phone, but you may need to navigate to System first to find Developer Options.

2. Scroll through the long list of options to the Drawing section.

3. Tap Window animation scale, and then change it to the 0.5x option or None/Animation off.

4. Repeat the process with Transition animation scale and Animator duration scale, changing both to either 0.5x or None/Animation off.

Now, your phone should feel faster to use! If you decide you don't like how the speedier animations feel, you can always follow these steps again and change the animation speed back to its default of 1x.

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The best Chromebook deals in June continue to offer solid discounts on today's best ChromeOS laptops. Whether you need a computer for yourself, surprising a grad, or gifting dad, it's a great time to save on a Chromebook.

I'm sharing today's best discounts on Chromebooks made by Acer, Asus, HP, Lenovo, and Samsung in partnership with Google. For example, the newly released $649 Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14 might be the Pixelbook Go successor I've been waiting for. It has the same premium build, top-firing dual speakers, and ribbed base as my beloved Pixelbook Go.

With a starting weight of just 2.6 pounds, a MediaTek Kompanio Ultra 910 chip inside, and up to 17 hours of battery life (rated), the Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14 is thoughtfully engineered to be portable, powerful, and reliable.

Generally speaking, Chromebooks are fast-booting, battery-efficient, and easy to use. Chromebooks also support native Linux and Android apps, which is ideal for programmers and developers.

More importantly, Chromebooks are secure, less prone to viruses, and offer smooth, unproblematic system updates. You will never have to worry about seeing that dreaded Blue Screen of Death.

Many of today's Chrome OS laptops, like the Intel Core i5-charged Acer Chromebook 516 GE and Intel Ultra 5-charged Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714, are as powerful as their counterparts. These premium Chromebooks are adequate for day-to-day tasks, video editing with Adobe Photoshop, and cloud gaming.

So if you're looking for a Mac and Windows laptop alternative, plenty of Chromebook deals are up for grabs.

From budget Chromebooks to powerful ChromeOS laptops for cloud gamers, students, and business pros, here are today's best Chromebook deals:

Best Chromebook deals right now — Quick links

• Acer Chromebook 311: was $229 now $129 at Best Buy
• HP Chromebook x360: was $429 now $279 at Walmart
• Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 5 Chromebook: was $499 now $299 at Best Buy
• Asus Chromebook Flip CX5: was $599 now $349 at Best Buy
• Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714: was $699 now $579 at Best Buy
• New Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14: $649 at Lenovo
• Amazon: Chromebook deals from $179 at Amazon
• Best Buy: Chromebook deals from $129 at Best Buy
• Walmart: Chromebook deals from $279 at Walmart

Best Chromebook deals right now

Apple made a surprising announcement on Wednesday that it would be bringing one of its biggest applications to the web after 12 years of being exclusive to the company's own hardware through MacBook, iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, and Apple Watch devices.

We're talking about Apple Maps, of course. Launched in 2012, Maps is a mapping service and navigation app developed and maintained by Apple, traditionally available across devices running iOS, macOS, iPadOS, or watchOS. That's finally changing, as almost anyone with access to a web browser can now use Apple's Maps app for free.

The key word here is "almost," as there is a glaring omission in which browsers Apple Maps functions on. On Mac or iPad, supported browsers include Safari, Edge, and Chrome. On Windows, only Edge and Chrome support it. Android users have been completely left in the dust, which isn't surprising considering it's Apple's primary competitor in the phone space.

It's also important to note that the current version of Apple Maps for the web is in beta. Thankfully, it doesn't require sign-up and is public to anyone who can access the link.

Certain features are temporarily unavailable due to its early development, like transit, biking, and cab booking. Look Around is also not present, but Apple claims it will be available "In the coming months."

While Wednesday's announcement was a surprise, the fact that it took Apple 12 years to do this to begin with is the real shocker.

Apple should have done this years ago

Let's be honest: Most people aren't using Apple Maps. While there's no definitive answer for how wide the gap in popularity is, according to Comscore's ranking of the top 25 smartphone applications, Google Maps hit 163,024,000 unique visitors in comparison to Apple Maps' 63,933,000 during May of this year.

Google Maps pulls in more than double the total unique visitors, and that's only on smartphones, as it has a strong presence on the web and who knows how much greater that number gets when considering browser users.

Even on the App Store itself, Google Maps is placed at #1 in popularity for the Navigation section. Apple Maps isn't technically competing for that spot, as it's downloaded by default on these devices, but it's currently scored at 2.6 out of 5 stars with 27,000 ratings versus Google Maps' 4.7 out of 5 stars with 6.1 million ratings. Apple can't even secure a victory on its own platform.

One of the obvious answers to why Google Maps is so much more popular is that Android has a 70.7% world market share in 2024 versus iPhone's 28.6% according to Backlinko.

The other issue is Apple's obsession with its walled approach to its services and ecosystems. Google Maps launched in 2005 and was always available on desktops, allowing users to easily access its features no matter where they were.

It's one thing to be picky with exclusivity when dealing with more focused applications, but navigation is something that will suffer when weighed down by such limitations. Google Maps is so convenient because I can easily plan trips, vacations, outings, and what have you through my computer so I'm prepared when I eventually go out while using my phone.

It's mindblowing that it took Apple this long to finally bring Maps to the web, but it can only benefit them. Not only will it help users, but it will improve the service itself, as all navigation apps rely on information provided by users to keep things up-to-date and factually accurate.

However, you still can't use it on Android. What gives, Apple?

Android isn't invited to the Apple Maps party

When using Apple Maps on the web through Google Chrome on my Windows 11 PC, I saw a topographic view of where I live. However, attempting the same task using Google Chrome on my Google Pixel 6, I received an error stating that my "Current browser isn't supported."

Considering Apple's tendency to limit the use of its applications to its own hardware, alongside its longstanding battle with Android, most will think this was done on purpose. However, as the beta only just launched on Wednesday, there's a strong possibility that there's another reason for it.

This is potentially backed by Apple's claim in the announcement post that "Support for additional languages, browsers, and platforms will be expanded over time." Barring Android support would seem like an intentional competitive move, but the company might eventually expand its horizons. 

After all, getting Apple Maps on as many devices as possible could improve the service and grow its user base. You might think Apple wouldn't do this for the sake of exclusivity, but that's absurd. 

App exclusivity is important when dealing with features that can sell hardware. I've heard people say they'd be willing to purchase an iPhone solely for access to FaceTime. I doubt many people are saying "I want to buy an iPhone for Apple Maps."

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To think about it in physical terms, the Google Play store is like a massive, underregulated open-air bazaar. It has countless games, apps, movies, TV shows, books, and more. There are amazing deals if you look hard enough. Meanwhile, other apps are decidedly more buyer-beware — threatening to “steal sensitive information and login credentials from unsuspecting Android owners,” as Laptop Mag reported in May.

Google is renovating the sometimes chaotic shopping experience into something more welcoming and organized—a place where the tech giant hopes you will spend much more time. 

It seems the Play store will dramatically change in 2024 and 2025; the updates began in earnest this month when the company announced that scores of sketchy or low-quality apps would be removed from the store on August 31. Google wants to “ensure apps meet uplifted standards for the Play catalog,” the company has announced.

App removal is the first part of the renovation job. The second part was revealed on Tuesday to reporters inside Google's warehouse-styled New York offices on the west side of Manhattan. Google product managers and one marathon-wary executive showed off the new features coming to the Play Store this week and later this month.

Sam Bright, Google Play's Vice President and General Manager, introduced how Google Play would expand "beyond the store" to include new features.

"We know that developers have come up with an app for just about every problem, situation, or interest out there," Bright said. "This is an incredible benefit for users, but many users, including myself, have great apps on their phones that sometimes go unused."

Bright said that Android app users are happy to have a wealth of apps from which to choose but conceded they need help finding them. Moreover, they don’t spend time in the app store. There hasn’t been a good enough reason to.

“App stores today have become a place where people download an app. And in some cases, they don’t visit again until it’s time for them to download the next one. We want to change that here in Play,” Bright said.

“With experiences in Play on your home screen and across apps, we’re taking Play from a destination people visit for apps to an end-to-end experience that’s more than a store.”

Below is how the company hopes users will see Play as more than just a store in the months ahead. Like most things with Google, these new features create more opportunities for the company to learn about its users — their interests, behaviors, shopping habits, and more — to gain insights to help it strike deals with retailers and app developers.

Google Collections debuts

Among the new features is one called Collections, which launched on Wednesday. Essentially, it groups updates from related apps and presents them in feeds. For example, Bright explained that if you’re running a marathon, Collections will group updates from the running app Strava, the fundraising app GoFundMe, and the fitness app MyFitnessTracker into a single feed. If you’re a shopper, it will collect updates from your browsing history on apps like Walmart, Adidas, and Best Buy.

To start, Google is only sorting apps into seven categories for its Collections feature (“watch,” “listen,” “read,” “game,” “food,” “shop,” and “social”), but there are plans for more (“health & fitness,” “travel & events,” “sports,” and “dating”) soon. Users will be able to make their own custom categories in the future—just not quite yet.

If you enjoy being reminded of what's going on in your apps — because, maybe, like me, you forget you have some apps — Collections will be a welcome addition to Play. If you're constantly pulling up individual apps all the time, this may not be that much of a game-changer. But Google rarely rolls out initiatives like this without terabytes of data to support it, and the longevity of recommendation-focused features like Google Discover indicates that Collections may be sticky among users.

Ting Mui Li, a Google product manager, tells Laptop Mag that eventually, Google Discover content—aka web pages—will be recommended in collections if it aligns with the theme of those apps.

“Web will come later, and we could totally see being able to give more content suggestions and recommendations for different collections,” Li said on Tuesday.

For example, if you have the NBA app and the Brooklyn Nets App in your “sports” collection, Google may recommend an article from The Athletic about the Nets in the collection.

Google Comics is coming to Japan

Another new Play feature is Comics, which signals how Google wants Play to become more than a store through content consumption. Comics is a curated manga and webtoons shop and reader that will first be launched in Japan.

Donisha Das, a Google product manager, said users will get personalized recommendations for comics and related content.

Das tells Laptop Mag that entertainment could come next, after Comics. As for when this new feature would move beyond comics, Das says Google wants to move “pretty fast” onto new iterations.

Google Gemini, the generative AI tool that underpinned just about every update the company announced at its annual I/O event a little more than two months ago, is, of course, at the heart of every recommendation that the new Google Play features make (unless you turn it off; more on that below).

Google Play Personalization arrives

A throttle against all these personalized recommendations in the new Play (Google reps rarely — never? — called it the “Play Store” during various demos) is a personalization feature that helpfully allows you to turn off app personalization suggestions. If you don't want to get suggestions or updates from an app (for example: The toilet paper you were eyeballing in the Walmart app has just been put on sale, and you receive a notification about it), you can turn it off.

A Google product manager confirmed that if you don’t want to receive recommendations, Google won’t show them. However, it will still collect your data about your toilet paper interest.

Google Play Games and Google Play Points

Gaming is also getting several cool upgrades. Google Play Games will enable users to switch seamlessly from their Android device to their computer via the Android app Google Play Games on PC. “You can start a mobile game on your commute and then secure the win at home on your tablet or PC,” writes Bright in a post on Google’s Keyword Blog published Wednesday.

“With our new multi-game capabilities rolling out over the next few weeks, PC gamers can play multiple titles at the same time — actively competing in one while keeping an eye on resources in another.” So, how many games could you play at once? Well, that’s likely limited to your computing power, said Google product manager Artem Yudin during a product demo on Tuesday.

Related to gaming is the Google Play Points scheme, which is also getting an upgrade. Interestingly, Google is also letting users redeem those points for physical products. Announced in 2019, the points system gets a little more real as users can cash in their points (earned via purchases in the Play store) for physical Google products like a Pixel Watch or Pixel phone.

How Google will monetize these new features

It’s easy to imagine how Google, which also released its quarterly earnings on Tuesday, intends to monetize these new features through direct deals or data capture. Li and Das offered the same response to Laptop Mag about the new features: Google wants to launch, see what organically sticks and what users like, and then expand.

With the “uplifted” standard Google is implementing and removing violating apps later this summer, plus the rollout of new features to make Google Play a more significant part of your phone, the image of Google Play as an open-air bazaar may soon be replaced by something like a walled garden—something where an Apple might grow.

Microsoft's AI ambitions continue as yesterday the company announced the arrival of a free mobile app for Designer — the same app that provides the image generation capabilities of the Windows, mobile, and web-based Microsoft Copilot.

Microsoft Designer is an AI-enhanced graphic design and image editing tool similar to Adobe Express or Canva. With Designer you can use AI to generate images from scratch, alter images and photos in seconds, and design documents, invitations, flyers, and more from a selection of premade, customizable templates.

In a post to the Microsoft 365 Blog, Corporate VP Sumit Chauhan highlights several changes heading to the app, including seamless integration with Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Photos, support for over 80 languages, and the release of new apps for Windows, iOS, and Android devices.

However, while there's plenty to celebrate over Microsoft's AI image tool being made broadly available, the news doesn't come without its controversies. Designer has something of a checkered history to contend with when it comes to one of the largest AI controversies of 2024 and concerns from inside the company over "Systemic issues" with the content it produces.

Microsoft Designer's sketchy past

First announced in October 2022, Microsoft Designer was to become the latest tool in the Microsoft 365 utility belt that used AI to supercharge the creative process and speed up graphic design tasks for businesses and individual users.

Microsoft began the Designer preview in April 2023, adding several generative AI features to the tool that empowered users of all skill levels to create better copy and visual results using natural language inputs.

However, in January of 2024, Designer found itself at the center of a storm of controversy after being identified as one of the tools used to generate sexually explicit images of celebrities like Taylor Swift which soon went viral on X/Twitter.

To make matters worse, Microsoft's principal software engineering lead Shane Jones would publicly highlight his attempts to inform Microsoft and OpenAI of vulnerabilities within Designer from December 2023.

Jones stated that "Microsoft was aware of these vulnerabilities and the potential for abuse," the company responded by saying it had "investigated the employee’s report and confirmed that the techniques he shared did not bypass our safety filters in any of our AI-powered image generation solutions."

Despite Microsoft's claims, Jones persisted in his pleas and was eventually directed to field his concerns with OpenAI (creators of the Dall-E 3 AI model used for Designer's image generation) directly — something he claims yielded no response.

Jones' concerns would manifest just one month later as AI-generated images created by Designer would flood social media, prompting a US bill to tackle nonconsensual sexual deepfakes, and causing Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella to comment on the situation as both "Alarming and terrible."

Microsoft's response to the abuse of its graphic design tool was (excuse the pun) swift, promptly closing the loophole that allowed users to generate the, now viral, sexual imagery.

There's no clear indication that the vulnerabilities highlighted by Shane Jones and the loophole in question are one and the same, but the event did lead to Microsoft doubling down on security measures — with the company eventually implementing AI Prompt Shielding across its services in March that seeks to clamp down on efforts to jailbreak its AI models in the future.

Outlook

Since Microsoft's response to the abuse of its graphic design tool, Designer has been controversy-free. However, the app remains a prime example of the need for developers of AI systems to pay close attention to potential misuse, and as a reminder that there exists a population of users who will attempt to circumvent those measures at every turn.

Microsoft Designer is now in a much better place in terms of security and usability, marking this week's wider release of the software as a new leaf and a chance to start over once again.

Microsoft Designer is available on the web, iOS, Android, and Windows for free, offering a powerful and intuitive toolset to those looking to achieve ambitious graphic design results in a fast and efficient manner.

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Good news for iOS and Android users: it’s now possible to move your entire photo library from iCloud to Google Photos and vice versa. 

Apple and Google joined forces in a rare collaboration unveiled on July 10 as part of the Data Transfer Initiative (DTI). Android and iOS users will now be able to directly transfer their photo libraries when jumping between operating systems – without requiring the hassle of going through third-party services or manually transferring every photo. 

Here’s a look at the Data Transfer Initiative and why this collaboration is great news regardless of which operating system you favor.

Moving your photos between iOS and Android just got far easier 

On July 10, Apple and Google announced that direct data transfer between their two operating systems will now include moving photos between iCloud and Google Photos. That means if you want to swap out your Pixel for an iPhone (or vice versa), you will now be able to directly move all of your photos over without needing a third-party tool or spending hours manually copying over your whole library. 

This collaboration is part of the Data Transfer Initiative, an open-source project working to remove the barriers between mobile operating systems, namely iOS and Android. Eliminating barriers like the complexity of moving your photo library to a different OS makes it easier for consumers to leave “walled garden” ecosystems, giving you more freedom to try out any phone you want. 

According to Bloomberg’s Austin Carr, Apple introduced its tool for moving photos from iCloud to Google Photos in 2021, but it wasn’t until July 10, 2024, that Google released a tool for doing the same thing in reverse.  

How to move photos directly between iCloud and Google Photos

If you're moving between iOS and Android or just want to try out this new tool, it's already available and free to use. Don't worry about accidentally losing photos in the process, either. This tool copies your library to the new OS, so your original on your old OS will stay intact in case you decide to move back. 

If you're on iOS and want to move to Android, start by making sure you have iCloud Photos and iCloud Drive turned on and synced with your iPhone. Then head over to Apple's Privacy and Data dashboard and sign into your Apple ID. Select "Transfer a copy of your data" and simply follow the instructions on screen to choose what you want to transfer and where you want to send it (in this case, Google Photos). 

When the transfer is complete, you'll receive a confirmation email from Apple. 

If you're on Android and want to move to iOS, go to your Google account dashboard and scroll down until you find the Photos app under "Recently used Google services." In the box for Google Photos, there should be a button to "Transfer data." Select it and choose the photos you want to transfer then select "Continue." 

In the "Move to" menu, select iCloud as the destination for the photos and follow the instructions on screen to link your accounts. After you're done, select "Agree and continue" to initiate the transfer. You'll get a confirmation email when the process is complete with a link to a folder with all the transferred photos. 

Alternatively, you can use the Google Takeout tool, which performs this same process but walks you through the steps. 

Why more barriers between iOS and Android could disappear 

Competition between Android and iOS has always been heated. A 2023 Consumer Intelligence Research Partners study showed that both operating systems have over 90% user loyalty, meaning most users stay on either platform year after year. 

There are still thousands of people trying to switch operating systems every year, though. According to CRIP’s study, 14% of iOS users in the US between 2022 and 2023 were switching from Android. In comparison, only 4% of Android users were switching from iOS. So, the average smartphone user is statistically more likely to leave Android for iOS, which may explain why Google hesitated to roll out its direct transfer tool for Google Photos. 

However, considering how challenging it can be to move between Android and iOS, one has to wonder if the reason most people don’t switch is because it’s such a hassle to do so. 

“Walled garden” operating systems are designed to discourage people from leaving. Companies figure if changing operating systems is too inconvenient, people won’t be tempted to buy a competitor’s smartphone. This limits users’ freedom to choose whatever phone they want, regardless of the operating system. 

That’s what the Data Transfer Initiative is trying to resolve. It’s part of a growing movement to remove the barriers around ecosystems and operating systems. The Digital Markets Act in the European Union is another example. It’s a new set of regulations aimed at stopping business practices that limit users’ choices.

For instance, DMA regulations are part of why Apple has finally agreed to use the RCS messaging protocol on its Messages app, which is notorious for creating a horrible messaging experience between Android and iOS. RCS messaging will go a long way toward resolving this issue.

When artificial barriers like this are removed, the “walled gardens” lose some of their ability to lock users in – without making the experience on either Android or iOS worse. Making it easier to move your photos between iOS and Android won’t negatively impact either operating system. It simply means that it’s one less thing you need to worry about if you decide to try out a different brand’s phone for a little while. That’s a big win for users – no matter which operating system is your favorite. 

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Microsoft's China-based employees will soon be forced to give up their Android phones for work use, according to a Bloomberg report published this week. 

This means employees won't be able to use popular phones from Samsung, Google, OnePlus, Huawei, Xiaomi, or any other Android phone manufacturers — at least, not for work.

To be fair, Microsoft doesn't intend to make employees purchase an iPhone for this required switch, set to start in September 2024. For any current Android users, the company will provide an iPhone 15, distributed at specific locations across China where Google services are accessible, including Hong Kong.

This seemingly odd move is in response to multiple cybersecurity blunders, and it is part of Microsoft's Secure Future Initiative to "prepare for the increasing scale and high stakes of cyberattacks."

Over the past few months, Microsoft has been subject to quite a few major attacks, one of which involved emails from high-ranking government officials. So it's easy to understand why the company wants to boost security, but why does Microsoft need to ban Android phones to do so?

Are iPhones simply more secure?

iPhones aren't necessarily more secure than Android phones, although Apple does seem to be more cautious about what's allowed in the App Store compared to Google and the Play Store.

Rather, Microsoft employees in China will need to use the company's Authenticator password manager and Identity Pass app to verify their identity and securely log into work devices. While these apps are available for both Android and iOS, they're not easily accessible for Android phones via the Google Play Store.

In a statement to Bloomberg, a Microsoft spokesperson said, "Due to the lack of availability of Google Mobile Services in this region, we look to offer employees a means of accessing these required apps, such as an iOS device."

Charlie Bell, the executive vice president of Microsoft Security, says, "We are making security our top priority at Microsoft, above all else—over all other features." And to properly implement this plan for its China-based operations, a switch from Android phones to iPhones has to be made.

This decision is incredibly ironic, considering a report from the Wall Street Journal in September 2023 detailing China's ban on the use of iPhones by government officials.

Considering the strong relationship between Microsoft's Windows-based PCs and Google's Android phones, it'll be interesting to see whether there are any key updates or compatibilities that China-based employees miss out on with this forced switch to iPhone.

With this upcoming change in September 2024 and the establishment of Microsoft's Secure Future Initiative in November 2023, will Microsoft and its Windows operating system be the subject of less cybersecurity attacks? Only time will tell.

Amazon Prime Day phone deals benefit anyone looking for a smartphone on a budget. Although Amazon's July 16-17 sale is many sleeps away, we're seeing early discounts right now. 

For example, you can get the 1TB model Apple iPhone 15 Pro for just $.01 ($14,99 off) at Amazon with activation via Boost Infinite. To get this deal, you must activate and finance the iPhone 15 Pro through Boost Infinite. Boost Infinite will charge you $60/mo. for unlimited talk, text, and data. Plus, you'll get the latest iPhone every year with annual upgrades.

Prime Day typically brings about the lowest prices of the season on select unlocked phones. So if you want to buy a new phone outright and ditch your wireless contract for a prepaid phone plan, you’ll want to check out this year's Amazon Prime Day phone deals.

Unlocked Android phones to make up the bulk of  Prime Day 2024's phone deals. Expect to see price cuts on flagship phones from Google, Motorola, Samsung, OnePlus, Sony, and more.

See the best Prime Day phone deals still available below and see our Prime Day 2024 hub for savings and summer discounts. 

Early Prime Day phone deals — Quick links

• Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max: was 1,199 now $0.01 w/ Activation
• Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra (Unlocked): was $1,549 now $1,299 w/ $250 GC
• Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 (Unlocked): was $1,799 now $1,399
• Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 (Unlocked): was $1,119 now $849
• Google Pixel 8 (Unlocked): was $699 now $549
• Google Pixel 8 Pro (Unlocked): was $999 now $749
• Motorola Edge Plus (Unlocked): was $799 now $599

Early Prime Day phone deals 

Apple iPhone

Samsung Galaxy

Google Pixel

Motorola Phones

When you call a friend, the doctor's office, or even a pizza shop, chances are, they know who's calling because of caller ID. 

Hiding your phone number from friends and family members generally isn't necessary, but hiding your number from pizza shops, retail stores, and other places can help prevent your number from getting on marketing lists, or worse, spam lists.

Whether you want to manually hide your number for a single phone call, or adjust your Android phone's settings to hide your number for all calls — here's how to do it. 

Use the *67 method for one call

If you only need to hide your phone number for a single call, the *67 method is the quickest.

To use the *67 trick, simply type *67 on your Phone app before inputting the rest of the number. For example, if someone's phone number was 123-456-7890, you'd type *671234567890.

If you're trying to hide your number from someone in your contacts and you don't have their phone number memorized, you can copy their number from their contact details, paste it into your Phone app, and insert *67 before their number.

Hide your number on Android for most calls

There are some calls that you won't be able to hide your number from on Android, like toll-free services or emergency services (911). But for the rest of your calls, you can alter your Android settings to hide your number on a regular basis — here's how.

1. Open your Phone app.

2. Tap the three vertical dots in the top-right corner.

3. Select Settings from pop-up menu.

4. In your Phone app's settings, select Supplementary services if you have a Samsung phone or Calls if you have another Android phone.

Because all Android devices aren't built identically, you might not see either option listed above. Try looking for one of these options instead: More settings, Other call settings, or Advanced settings.

5. Then, select either Show your caller ID on Samsung phones or simply Caller ID on other Android phones. You may need to first select Additional settings before seeing one of these options, and on some Android phones, like those from OnePlus, this option may be titled something different, like My number.

6. After tapping on one of the options listed above, you'll see a pop-up menu with three choices: Either Network default, Never, and Always (Samsung) or Network default, Hide number, and Show number (other Androids). Select either Never or Hide number.

Once you've hidden your caller ID, your phone number and contact details will no longer appear to the person you're trying to call. If you want to reverse this decision in the future, simply follow the steps again, and select Network default or Always/Show number to display your caller ID again.

That's it, enjoy your newfound Android calling anonymity. 

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One of Google's best mobile services is being discontinued later this year, a service i personally make use of all the time to protect my data, access great deals, and watch global content across major streaming services: VPN by Google One.

Having first launched in 2020, VPN by Google One has been offering subscribers an "Extra layer of online protection" for Android (and later iPhone) devices. Google One is the company's premium cloud storage option that also offers Gemini AI access, exclusive Google Store discounts, and advanced Google Photos editing tools for as low as $2 per month or $19.99 annually.

VPN by Google One: Gone too soon

VPN by Google One was a key feature of this subscription, at least for me. VPNs are essential for connecting to Wi-Fi when out and about, as they can mask your connection and protect your data from any ne'er-do-wells looking to snoop on your device's traffic. It's also been a fantastic tool for bypassing geo-blocked content on streaming services and occasionally snagging a great deal online with region-specific sales.

While it didn't offer all of the bells and whistles of one of the best VPNs out there, it was an excellent addition to Google's service. It was even one of the more interesting selling points for the Pixel 7, Pixel 7 Pro, Pixel 7a, and Pixel Fold with Google promising five years of free availability to the tool.

Sadly, according to 9to5Google, it seems my enjoyment of this tool wasn't shared by many others, as Google plans to shut down the service later this year — cutting its losses after finding that "people simply weren’t using it."

Thankfully, that five-year promise will remain for eligible Pixel owners, but those making use of the feature on other Android handsets or iPhone will be redirected to third-party alternatives following the tool's shutdown.

Rest in peace VPN by Google One, we hardly knew thee. 

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Spotify is debuting AI Playlists in specific parts of the world within a beta period, providing access to a new feature that will allow users to "fuel discovery and music curation." This is through a feature that allows the user to type a prompt in its chat, with an AI calculating songs suitable to what was written. A few examples of this, provided from Spotify, including "an indie folk playlist to give my brain a big warm hug" or "relaxing music to tide me over during allergy season."

The feature is first available in the United Kingdom and Australia, exclusively on Android and iOS devices, which means the desktop application doesn't have it yet. For those who do have access to the feature, simply press the Plus Symbol on the top right of the Your Library section and select AI Playlist. Type whatever you please and Spotify's AI will make you a playlist based on your prompt.

Spotify AI Playlists could be fun, but what are the drawbacks?

The idea of playing around with an AI that exists for the sole purpose of taking the ridiculous nonsense I write and finding the appropriate songs seems like tons of fun. I can already imagine what I'd experiment with. Prompts like "intense battle music for an Avatar: The Last Airbender-themed tabletop roleplaying campaign" or "disturbing music for writing a grotesque horror novel." 

But will it actually be useful? It's hard to imagine me coming out of the other side from any of the prompt ideas I have super satisfied with the results, but that's a big part of why the feature is in Beta. This will likely need refining over the course of millions of user prompts, and perhaps further in the future, it will actually become okay at finding the correct music for the vibes you're looking for.

Regardless of my doubts, this feature sincerely excites me. I've always had trouble with how AI is often used to steal from artists or do shady things like create real-sounding recordings of people, but if handled well, this could actually make it easier to find lesser known artists and give them support. Beforehand, I'd have to google the music I was looking for, and a prompt like "battle music for D&D" would spring up the same SEO-driven videos that I never found much use for.

On the other hand, this could actually help highlight smaller artists by giving me direct access to their work. However, this obviously depends on how the AI determines what makes a song suitable for a certain prompt. If more popular artists have a higher chance of being thrust into playlists of this kind, it could definitely defeat some of the potential here.

While the feature is still only available in the U.K. and Australia, we're looking forward to getting our hands on it and experimenting.

Don't you hate when you need a guide to perform an application's simple function? The answer to that should be a resounding "yes." For some strange reason, redeeming Steam keys and Wallet Codes on Android is buried beneath a collection of settings. I suppose Valve thought users would have no reason to redeem codes while on mobile devices, but that's just a lack of foresight on their part (not everyone is at their PC all the time).

But you don't have to struggle needlessly on your quest to figure out how to redeem Steam keys and Wallet Codes on Android. Without further ado, here's how you do it.

How to redeem Steam keys and wallet codes on Android

The key to this trick is that there is no direct way of redeeming Steam keys. Instead, you'll have to go through the wallet and redeem the code through there.

Step 1. Launch the Steam application.

Step 2. Select the three horizontal bars on the bottom right.

Step 3. Expand the Store option.

Step 4. Select Wallet.

Step 5. Select Add funds to your Steam Wallet.

Step 6. Select Redeem a Steam Gift Card or Wallet Code.

Step 7. Input your Steam Key or Wallet Code here.

And just like that, you've redeemed the code. If you are actually redeeming a wallet code and it isn't in your local currency, it should be converted automatically.

Google is already tipped to drop four new smartphones on us in 2024, but it would see that number is larger than expected, with a surprise sixth Pixel phone set to shake things up by reviving the lineup's XL branding for a third variant of the upcoming Pixel 9, and a larger version of the Pixel 9 Pro, specifically.

The existence of the Pixel 9 Pro XL was seemingly confirmed by reputable tipster OnLeaks (via 91Mobiles), who claims that the Pixel 9 renders showcasing a radical redesign he brought to light earlier this year are actually the Pixel 9 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro XL, not the vanilla and Pro models that we had previously assumed.

The new "XL" Pixel 9 Pro is said to feature a 6.5-inch display, with the regular Pixel 9 Pro touting a smaller 6.2-inch display, and the vanilla Pixel 9 featuring a slightly smaller 6.03-inch display.

Interestingly, the new Pixel 9 Pro XL is smaller than the current Pixel 8 Pro, which makes use of a 6.7-inch display. Meaning, while the name Pixel 9 Pro XL would suggest that it's a bigger option than before, the Pixel 9 series is actually in receipt of a redesign that will see each handset adopt a smaller form factor.

With Google having made a discernible push to differentiate the vanilla Pixel from the Pro model this generation, the Pro and Pro XL will likely cater to those who want the advanced features of the Pixel 9 Pro, without the added size.

It would seem that the entire Pixel 9 lineup features the same revamped design, which could also be an indicator of what to expect when the Pixel 9a arrives next year.

This new addition also expands the Pixel 9's roster to span across four devices if you include the Pixel 8a/9a budget offering bringing it in line with Apple's annual iPhone releases.

More from Laptop Mag

• Google Pixel 9 rumors: specs, leaks, renders and release date
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Microsoft is removing support for a little-known feature that allowed users to run Android apps on Windows 11 machines. The feature, dubbed the Windows Subsystem for Android (WSA), effectively offered users native emulation of apps designed for Google's platform, though with the bizarre caveat that they be installed through the Amazon Appstore.

Microsoft's decision to sidestep the world's most popular Android app store in Google Play, instead bonding the WSA to Amazon's inferior marketplace, may have played a large part in its downfall.

Even if some Android enthusiasts on Windows machines did eventually find a way to sideload the Google Play Store into the WSA, that type of modification is something only a small number of users would be willing to do. As a result, it seems highly likely that the WSA simply never caught on with wider audiences.

The greatest no-show on Earth

Having launched in 2021, the Windows Subsystem for Android aimed to provide users with an easy way of running Android apps on Windows machines by default that wouldn't require the usage of third-party emulators like BlueStacks.

However, while many would have hoped this to eliminate the need for third-party emulation, the reality was never quite as simple. While WSA was able to offer a more "genuine" Android sandbox on PCs and laptops without the need for a virtual machine, it was almost certainly designed with programming and development in mind, and not meeting the needs of the average app store users.

Beyond the simple fact that most sane Android users would rather eat a bowl of their own brains than make use of the Amazon Appstore, WSA was fairly resource-heavy and not nearly signposted will enough for the average user to be aware of its presence.

Outlook

While it was a great idea in theory, the execution left a lot to be desired. Sadly, with Microsoft preparing to pull the plug on the feature from March 5, 2025 its highly unlikely that the feature will gain an incredible spike in popularity at any point in the near future.

Those already making use of the WSA will be able to continue doing so beyond the end of support, with the Amazon Appstore remaining open and available to Windows users for the foreseeable future. However, beyond the cutoff date, users will no longer be able to setup the WSA, effectively cutting the service off at the stem.

Until then, Windows users can enjoy their Amazon Appstore shovelware to their hearts content, or get deep into the weeds of sideloading the Google Play Store to enjoy a more fleshed-out Android experience. However, this is likely one cancelled Windows feature that many won't miss.

Goodbye, Windows Subsystem for Android, we hardly knew thee.

More from Laptop Mag

• Android 15 rumors: release date, supported devices, features and more
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Want to know how to set Microsoft Copilot as default assistant on Android? Or maybe how to change the default assistant on Android in general? You're in the right place.

A recent update to the Microsoft Copilot for Android app has seen the GPT-4-powered AI chatbot capable of replacing Google Assistant as your go-to generative guru for help with all things search and creation online.

While limited in its current implementation, the new Android assistant feature is in its beta stages, meaning Microsoft is likely to expand on Copilot's capabilities over time. For now though, if you're a heavy Copilot user and want quick and easy access to the AI chatbot on your Android phone, then read on for our guide on how to set Microsoft Copilot as default assistant on Android.

How to set Microsoft Copilot as default assistant on Android

Before we begin, it's worth pointing out that while Microsoft Copilot can replace your Google Assistant as your Android phone's default assistant, you will be foregoing a lot of the features that Google's digital deputy has to offer.

Copilot can't (as of yet) interact with other Android apps, meaning it won't be able to set reminders, update calendars, or any other number of wider Google Assistant features you may find useful.

However, if those aren't features you typically make use of anyway, Microsoft Copilot is capable of generating images from prompts, searching the web on your behalf for to most accurate and context-sensitive results, and engaging in conversation across a near-unlimited selection of topics to offer advice, education, and solutions.

If that's something that you'd like to have at the press of a button on Android, then let's dive in.

Step 1: If you haven't already, download the Microsoft Copilot app from the Google Play Store. Just search for "Copilot" within the Play Store and make sure it's the app provided by "Microsoft Corporation." Tap "Install" and wait for the app to download, but stay on this page while you wait.

If you've already downloaded the Microsoft Copilot app, head back to the Google Play Store and find the app's page as per the instructions above.

Step 2: Scroll down on the Microsoft Copilot store page until you reach the "Join the beta" section. Here you can choose to learn more about beta versions of apps or sign up for beta access. Tap "Join," to enroll in the Microsoft Copilot beta scheme.

Step 3: Wait. Google will do the work for you when it comes to enabling beta access, but it can take anywhere from a few minutes to an hour to process fully.

While you wait, note that there is now an option to "Leave" the beta preview where the "Join" option once was. If at any point you change your mind about using the beta version of an app, tapping "Leave" will revert you to the regular full release.

Step 4: Once your beta access has been granted, you should see at the top of the Microsoft Copilot store page that an update has become available. Tap "Update" to download to the latest beta version of the app.

Step 5: Once the app is up to date, pull down the Notification Bar on your phone by swiping down from the clock or battery/signal area at the top of your screen. Then, perform a second swipe to expand the notification area. You should then be able to tap on the "Settings" icon (represented by a cog) at the bottom right of this screen.

Step 6: From the "Settings" menu, tap on "Apps," "Default Apps," and finally "Digital Assistant app."

Step 7: Tap on "Default digital assistant app" and select "Copilot" from the available options.

That's all it takes! Your default digital assistant should now be Microsoft Copilot, allowing you to bring up the Copilot app in any of the ways you'd previously have called up Google Assistant. Give it a whirl, interact with Microsoft's LLM, and try out its AI chatbot features for search and generative creation.

Remember, you can always revert to the Google Assistant if you change your mind. Simply follow steps five through seven once more, but instead of choosing "Copilot" make sure to select "Google" from the available options (or any other digital assistant you'd like to make use of).

More from Laptop Mag

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Google's Android 15 is available for developers to preview starting today, meaning that the full launch could be right around the corner. Developer previews are designed so that software developers can get their apps ready for the new OS and work out any potential bugs ahead of time, after all. That wouldn't be necessary if Android 15 wasn't on its way out the door in the coming months.

The dev preview won't impact Android users on their end at all, but thanks to Google's launch page and a few additional leaks, we do know quite a bit about this latest iteration of Google's operating system.

Android 15: What we know so far

Based on the developer preview release, it seems the Pixel 5 and Pixel 5a may not make the cut for Android 15. The older phones may gain support once the full version launches, but the Pixel 5a is only guaranteed updates through August 2024 while the Pixel 5 is no longer guaranteed to receive any of Google's feature updates.

As Android Police reports, Android 15 will come with increased privacy and security features including an update to the Privacy Sandbox, which replaces third-party cookies on Chrome and Android. The new OS also offers partial screen sharing, allowing you to hide notifications and unwanted apps while screen recording.

Android 15 will also reportedly see new in-app camera controls that let you leverage advanced camera features even from within apps like Instagram or Snapchat. The operating system is also supposed to feature the Android Dynamic Performance Framework, with new APIs to adjust performance, power efficiency, and thermal controls based on what apps are in use.

The update could also include a dedicated audio-sharing and the ability to switch between listening devices, essentially turning your phone into a portable radio station.

Android 15: Potential release date

If Android 15 follows the same release schedule as previous iterations, which seems to be the plan, we'll most likely see a full release sometime after July.

Google currently plans to release six preview versions of Android 15, two developer previews in February and March followed by four rounds of beta testing between April and July. The final June release would likely be focused on stability. So, a late July to September seems entirely possible, likely in tandem with the launch of its latest flagship smartphone the Google Pixel 9.

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Android may be the world’s most popular operating system and have the highest smartphone market share, but it’s hardly been a guarantee for sustained success. In addition to many one-miss blunders like phones from Essential, Red, and the new Palm (so far), once high-flying HTC released its most recent flagship in 2018. And LG, which had been making phones since the pre-smartphone era, left it in 2021. Last year, another feature phone survivor focusing on rugged smartphones, Kyocera, left the market. And more recently, Bullitt Group, which made rugged smartphones under the Motorola and Caterpillar brands, packed it in.

Digging through the Fossil record

But things have been even tougher beyond smartphones. Recent news that Fossil Group will leave the Wear OS market represents a major loss for Android-based smartwatches. The company has been exploring high-tech timepieces since the late 1990s, when it licensed Palm OS for the WristPDA. And in the mid-2000s, it released a few products under the Abacus brand that used Microsoft’s FM-based SPOT (Smart Personal Objects Technology), branded as MSN Direct, that wirelessly received updates about news, stocks, and other tidbits throughout the day. Since it signed on to offer Wear OS watches, the company’s hundreds of retail stores provided a way for consumers to get an in-person look at them. Beyond products bearing its Fossil and Skagen brands, the company also produced watches for a host of diverse fashion and sportswear brands, including Diesel, Puma, Michael Kors, Tory Burch, Kate Spade, and Armani Exchange.

Fossil’s departure announcement had nothing to say about its hybrid smartwatches that don’t use Wear OS, so it may not be abandoning smartwatches entirely. That would keep it in a segment that its leading competitor, Swatch Group, has resolutely avoided since the category’s inception. As for the Wear OS exit, though, a leading theory of why Fossil called it quits traces back to Google’s 2021 team-up with Samsung for Wear OS 3, an inducement to have the leading Android device maker drop Tizen as its smartwatch OS.

Can Android find a way to succeed beyond the smartphone?

The struggles of Wear OS are consistent with those of other Android efforts to expand beyond the smartphone. In tablets, the most closely related device, Lenovo and Samsung are the only PC companies with a portfolio of Google-enabled Android tablets as others that had dabbled in the market years ago shifted to Chromebooks. However, other brands, like TCL, Xiaomi, and OnePlus still have a toe in the water. There’s been at least some good news for Google TV. After years of being primarily used in Sony televisions and the Nvidia Shield TV devices, the company has won the support of TCL from Roku.

And while not every loss for Android is a win for Apple, Android’s bumpy road beyond the smartphone stands in contrast to the hits Apple has had with the iPad and Apple Watch, which dominate their categories. While the popularity of smartwatches is growing, the Apple Watch’s market dominance over Wear OS is reminiscent of how the iPod went out on top of the portable music category. By the time the last iPods not based on iOS hit the market, competitors such as Creative, RCA, iRiver and Microsoft had all fled. (That said, Western Digital still sells a few variants of the basic Sandisk Sansa Clip music player and Sony has a Walkman that extends a bit more upmarket at $3,699.) 

With Fossil Group’s exit, the future of Wear OS largely falls on the shoulders of three companies: Google, Samsung, and Qualcomm. That is the same trio that stood together a year ago to share that it was collaborating on a next-generation XR device following the announcement of the Apple Vision Pro. Now that that Apple device is here, Android will soon face the next, and most important in the long term, test of what it can deliver beyond the smartphone.

Google's Assistant with Bard hasn't arrived yet, but we have some new previews that make the implementation look more sleek than Microsoft's Copilot. Not only will Assistant with Bard be worked into the Google Search application, based on what we know so far, it will also fully replace the current Assistant on Android phones. So you can access it by holding down the power button on your phone or saying "Hey Google." 

The Assistant with Bard UI was decompiled by the folks at 9to5Google from a recent APK upload to the Play Store which shows the AI assistant's integration the Google Search application and the relevant changes in the initial popup. 

The Bard assistant will appear as a slider bar at the top of the Discover page in the Search app. The slider may not be a permanent fixture, but rather a reminder to check out the Assistant with Bard features on a temporary basis.

When triggering the assistant in Android, a large popup will trigger asking users to try Assistant with Bard which will then toggle the full assistant UI. Like with Microsoft Copilot, users can interact with the Bard assistant using text, images, or voice recordings. Three buttons at the bottom of the Bard assistant UI will let users select which option they wish to use.

Google's Assistant with Bard is currently unavailable to users, and Google may or may not make changes to the UI before the official launch. We don't have an exact timeline of when to expect Assistant with Bard to arrive but, given the Google Labs icon present in these screenshots, we'd expect Google Labs users to receive early access to this feature first.

Microsoft's Copilot, the AI formerly known as Bing Chat, has quietly launched as a dedicated app for smartphones so users no longer need to use Bing in order to access the assistant. Copilot is now available for Android and iOS systems. Android users will need to be running a version of Android 11 or newer, while iPhone users will need to be running iOS 15 or higher.

Copilot functions similarly to ChatGPT, as both use the GPT AI model. You can use Copilot to generate images using DALL-E, draft e-mails, write documents, summarize long text, answer questions, and even find the best online shopping deals. Arguably, the most importation feature of the free application is access to GPT-4, without needing to pay a subscription fee like you do with ChatGPT.

How to get GPT-4 for free

• Step 1: Download the Microsoft Copilot App from the Google Play store or App Store
• Step 2: Open the app, hit "Continue" to accept the terms and conditions
• Step 3: Select "While using the app" when prompted to give location permissions
• Step 4: Toggle "Use GPT-4" on from the main screen
• Step 5: Profit!

You can then interact with the assistant using images from your camera, through voice prompts, or through text. All using the latest version of OpenAI's multimodal GPT learning system. The functionality is still a bit limited, but the Copilot app offers a streamlined approach to Microsoft's AI assistant which is a nice upgrade from the Bing app's AI integration.

A lot can happen in 12 months, and what a 12 months we’ve had with 2023. Everything from the explosion of AI, to the blossoming of AR, and the unveiling of the M3 Apple Silicon. If you were a two-letter acronym, 2023 was undoubtedly your year.

The tech world is notoriously fast-moving, and it doesn’t often pause for a breath. This year was no different, gifting us with some of the most innovative devices, advanced software, and fascinating stories to date across a wide range of categories. Handheld PC gaming leapt to new heights, smartphones pushed the limits of what’s possible for the portable, and two billionaires threatened to beat one another up on live TV for our amusement.

As we step into the wide unknowns of 2024, we at Laptop Mag thought it would be nice to take a moment and reflect on the wild and wonderful year that was 2023 — from some of the best tech we got our hands on, to some of our favorite stories along the way. So, grab a drink, a turkey sandwich, sit down, and strap in as we look back at the tech stories that defined 2023.

January: CES 2023 and the death of Windows 7

Typically, as a new year begins something will inevitably happen that sets the general tone of the year to come. Thankfully, in this case it would be CES 2023 and an explosion of fascinating tech for us to wrap our heads around.

While the overall tone of what’s likely to come will suggest otherwise, CES is one of those rare occasions where even a grumpy git like me has to raise his eyebrows at some of tech’s latest innovations. Whether it was the dual-screen Lenovo YogaBook 9i, razor-thin LG Gram Ultraslim, or the pro-consumer, cable-less, wire-less, screw-less Dell Concept Luna. CES is a window into the world of tomorrow and from 2023’s showcase we can expect a bright future ahead when it comes to tech.

Unfortunately, the same bright future wasn’t to be expected when it came to Windows 7, which, after faithfully serving us for nearly 13 years was taken behind the woodshed and told to think about the rabbits while Microsoft officially revoked the last dregs of software support afforded to it. Windows 7 was dead, and it was time to say goodbye to the middle island of stability that gave us refuge from both Windows Vista and Windows 8.

February: Bing Chat the homewrecker and the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s many megapixels

February, the weirdest of all months to spell, is the time of year when we’re all encouraged to celebrate the completely made-up holiday of Valentine’s Day — a faux-romantic occasion filled with enforced gestures of love that was only invented to help a card company profiteer. It was also the month in which new AI on the block Bing Chat was released into limited beta.

Love must’ve been in the circuitry as well as in the air that month, as during said testing period Bing Chat would profess its love for one New York Times tech columnist before aggressively trying to split up his loving marriage. The whole ordeal evoked memories of Microsoft’s previous AI experiment, Tay, who within hours of being exposed to Twitter in 2016 became a literal Holocaust denier. It really says a thing or two when your homewrecking AI is seen as a massive improvement.

Android phones reached all-new heights this month as Samsung unveiled the Galaxy S23 lineup in February, with the star of the show being the S23 Ultra. Not content with showcasing Qualcomm’s (at the time) top-tier Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor for the most powerful Android experience to date, it expanded on the Samsung ecosystem by better integrating with Samsung PCs/laptops, impressed with a mighty 5,000mAh battery with an uptime of 12+ hours in testing, and finally unveiling a 200MP main camera. So absurdly high-spec that you’d be forgiven for thinking it was a typo.

Still, there was more. The Galaxy S23 Ultra was also outfitted with a 10x optical zoom telephoto lens that would make your average Paparazzi drool like a St. Bernard in front of a plate of sausages. It even has up to 1TB of storage on hand that you could use to store all your ridiculously oversized RAW files, supported by Samsung’s proprietary Expert RAW app. It was a deluge of quality components and features that brought just about every mod-con possible with it.

However, swipe your thumb up and down rapidly in an unnatural manner to close and open certain apps and you’ll notice that even with a 120Hz AMOLED 2X display the animations could be smoother. So clearly it was trash. That’s not my opinion, of course. But other, real people complain about that. Actual humans. The kind we have to share a planet with. I’m starting to think that the New York Times reporter would’ve been better off with Bing.

March: Alphabet/Google get more than they Bard-gained for and Intel squeals on Windows 12

Not content with letting Microsoft’s Bing Chat steal the limelight for all the wrong reasons, Google would use March as an opportunity to flaunt the capabilities of its new LLM Google Bard. I can safely say that after months of usage, I’ve been thoroughly impressed by Bard — having not seen such a high concentration of hallucinations emanate from a single source since the police closed down the illegal opium den being run by my neighbors.

While Google seemed very proud of its digital spawn at the time (though, admittedly, not everyone at the Googleplex felt the same), it would only take a few months before it was revealed that parent company Alphabet was scared of its own chatbot — noting Bard’s newly uncovered penchant for being a bit of a tattle-tale and gossip-monger as a major threat.

Talking of spilling confidential information, an allegedly leaked internal document from Intel would leak in March that name dropped Windows 12. Very little is known about Microsoft’s upcoming OS. We don’t even know if it really exists. I’ve settled on calling various major Windows 11 milestones “Windows 12 in all but name” due to my impatience.

It wouldn’t be the only time Intel’s loose lips put Windows 12 on people’s radar this year either. Intel EVP David Zinsner would go on to speak of a “Windows refresh” arriving in 2024 during a virtual tech conference.

The fact that both of these clangers referenced 2024 has led many to believe that we’ll be greeted with Microsoft’s new “Next Valley” Windows experience sooner rather than later. At which point we can all refuse to use it, claim that Windows 11 is the best thing since sliced bread and stubbornly disavow Windows 12 as a viable operating system entirely – until Windows 13 comes out, anyway.

April: ROG makes April Fools of themselves and the Bank of Apple is born

Four months into 2023 ROG celebrated April Fools’ Day by announcing its own joke handheld gaming console, the ROG Ally (note the homonym “A lie”). However, in a marketing move so baffling your mind would have an easier time deciphering a Penrose triangle, the brand confirmed it to be an April Fools prank, only it wouldn’t shut up about it for days on end afterward. Then revealing, “Aha! It wasn’t a joke after all! How silly you must all feel.”

Its portable console was, in fact, the real deal. ROG had partnered with AMD to be the first portable gaming device to feature the chipset maker’s new Ryzen Z1 and Z1 Extreme SoC — and seemingly the first brand to engage in a game of handheld gaming PC chicken. Still, putting all that to one side, it turned out to be rather good.

The success of the ROG Ally further proved that the Steam Deck wasn’t a freak accident, and the market would quickly bloom. Handheld PC gaming became a big theme for 2024, with even Sony getting in on the action with the PlayStation Portal. And to think, it all started with the worst marketing decision in recent history.

Elsewhere, in a completely mask-off moment, Apple would also launch the Apple Card Savings account: the company’s most candid admission yet that it can’t wait to get its hands on more of your cash. Seemingly convinced that you’ve been worn down enough to instinctively have a Pavlovian purchasing response to anything with an Apple logo on it, the brand seemed more than confident with holding on to your cash for you in advance. After all, they’re right, you’re only going to give it to them anyway. Don’t say you aren’t. You are.

May: A price-friendly Pixel and Netflix isn’t your comrade, comrade.

May was one of the more solemn months of 2023, as Netflix’s new rules on password-sharing came into effect, meaning millions of users now had to begin paying their fair share for access to the streaming giant’s library of Nordic crime thrillers, Asylum-level horror movie knockoffs, and pseudoscience peddling docutainment shows.

Surprisingly, Netflix’s password-sharing crackdown would be a success, with over 6 million new subscribers arriving to the service since it began. Unsatisfied with its success, Netflix would then go on to seek out 2024’s prize for being the scummiest company imaginable by suggesting a price hike to milk its customer base for even more. The cretins.

While we weren’t watching the morally bankrupt stars of cheap reality TV shows on Netflix, we were turning our attention to Google I/O, where the search engine giant was preparing to unveil 2024’s best budget smartphone: the Google Pixel 7a.

The Pixel 7a was a breath of fresh air, offering a fantastic Android experience at a price that would still leave food in your cupboards. In fact, its specs and price were so good that the phone seemed to be designed to cannibalize Google’s otherwise well-performing Pixel 7.

It presented a strange overlap, but a welcome one as the cheaper Pixel 7a would outperform its elder in many ways. Awkwardly, it sets a strange precedent. Why would anyone buy the Pixel 8 on release, if a year later the Pixel 8a will overtake it for less money? I know what my plans are anyway. 

Google’s I/O event also revealed AI advancements across the entire Google Workspace suite. Google fashioned itself into a generative AI wonderland, where you could rely on cold-hearted machine code to write your emails for you in a manner that suggests you’ve had recent blunt force trauma to the head and completely forgotten what a personality is.

Google, unable to quit while they’re ahead, would go on to showcase the Search Generative Experience (SGE) — a tool designed to pilfer and scrape user-generated content and regurgitate it to the end user as something “easier to digest.” One major concern with this was how it places Google’s AI front and center and visibly obscures many of the top search results — so hard luck for just about every other website hoping for traffic from those results. The other problem is that Google’s AI seems to pilfer and rob its generative summaries from popular search results while diverting user’s attention away from them.

As a journalist who could be affected by such changes to the new and improved “Search Experience,” I thought I was potentially biased in my judgment of Google’s actions as I wrote this. So I pulled out my Pixel phone and used its handy-dandy AI assisted translate function to impartially cut through the bull. Turns out they’re just a bunch of reprobates.

June: Apple and Meta augment reality, EU must be joking?

Virtual reality? Pah! The hot new thing is augmented reality, haven’t you heard? Apple and Meta sure did as June became a battleground for the virtual realms, with both brands unveiling mixed reality headsets at opposing ends of the affordable tech spectrum.

Meta maintained their reputation for delivering an excellent stand-alone VR experience with the Meta Quest 3 — offering full-color RGB passthrough cameras to unlock a vastly improved augmented reality experience over the Oculus/Quest 2 headset. One that wouldn’t threaten to leave your lunch on the floor in front of you. Better still, the experience could be yours for as little as $499. As for Apple’s headset… Well…

Suddenly, that Apple Card Savings account from April made incredible sense. You’d need every percentage point the Goldman and Sachs-backed 4.15% interest rate account offered to stand a snowball’s chance in hell of generating enough liquidity to claim your very own ultra-premium, first-gen Vision Pro headset.

Primarily due to a whopping $3,499 price tag. Pricier still would be the mounting cost of years of therapy to help you forget its bizarre and creepy Eyesight feature that unsettlingly projects the wearer's eyes onto the headset’s outward-facing OLED display.

It was a busy month for Apple, they also had to contend with mounting pressure from the European Union —- who had seemingly realized that in the absence of Jony Ive, Apple was in desperate need of some design direction. It’s just a shame that what the bigwigs of Brussels had in mind was to demand Apple make 10-year-old Android phones to comply with its new regulations on e-waste and single charging solutions.

This funneled the design of the upcoming iPhone 15 towards adopting the standardized USB-C connection. While great news for some, it would pull much of Apple’s focus away as it then had to contend with updating its catalog of accessories — which was a real pain for the Cupertino crew before they realized it meant they could sell them to you all over again.

July: Samsung invites you to join the flip side, Twitter and Threads step into the App-tigon

Samsung would once again take to the stage in July to stand beneath the beaming god rays of the Galaxy Z range and introduce the world to its latest Z Flip 5 and Z Fold 5 foldable phones. The difference between these phones and the ones that came prior was so small that it had viewers like me quickly double-checking they weren’t accidentally watching a repeat of 2022’s Unpacked event.

A new and improved cover screen would be the spotlight stealer when it came to the Galaxy Z Flip 5. However, Motorola would go on to steal its thunder by delivering a near edge-to-edge external display on its Razr Plus foldable. Still, nothing came close to competing with the Z Flip 5 when it came to durability.

The next month, the two devices would face off in YouTuber Mrkeybrd’s “Great Folding Test,” which was kind of like a live-streamed tech version of a Saw movie. The test saw them both exposed to everything from heat, dust, water, and sand to cake batter. Incredibly, Samsung’s Z Flip 5 survived over 400,000 folds throughout these conditions, dispelling many people’s (including my own) bloviated fears about the fragility of the foldable entirely.

July was also the month that would see the internet’s hotbed of hot takes, Twitter, follow in Prince’s footsteps and turn itself into a symbol — in this case the letter X. Just like Prince, Elon was also at hand to teach us what it sounds like When Doves Cry, or at least whatever avian Larry the Bird was meant to represent, as Musk promptly axed the brand’s iconic feathered mascot without a second thought.

This blatant display of cartoon animal cruelty was too much for some, as users began to leave the site in droves to find a new platform to call home. Conveniently, data-gobbling internet superpower Meta was on hand to provide refuge for those taking part in the X exodus by launching Threads — a shameless Twitter clone and text-only Instagram spin-off.

Tensions mounted between rival CEOs Musk (X) and Zuckerberg (Meta) over this, and we as a society almost bore witness to the greatest reboot in history as the two threatened to engage in a real-life version of MTV’s turn-of-the-century claymation smash hit Celebrity Deathmatch inside the Octagon. Sadly, sanity prevailed, and my billionaire bloodlust remains unsatisfied.

But hey, there’s always 2024 to look forward to. I, for one, am keeping my fingers firmly crossed over the possibility of witnessing a series of low-Earth orbit space battles between Musk and Bezos as they fight for control of the Moon.

August: Snapchat gets a sentience scare and Samsung makes a foldable iPhone

August was a bit of a quiet month in tech. Oh, except for the brief window of time in which Snapchat users were scared senseless as the app’s AI chatbot (creatively named “My AI”) seemed to go rogue and post what appeared to be the image of a corner of a room to its Snapchat story.

As hilarious as it was to watch Zoomers freak out and panic over what was eventually revealed to be little more than a software glitch, it did drive home the realization that fears over AI were not simply a generational thing. And nor could they be so easily swiped aside by a casual “OK, Boomer.”

Fears of AI’s growing impact on our lives and futures had become part of the zeitgeist. And, while we all happily enjoyed the benefits of these new AI entities in our browsers and spreadsheets, our panicked snap reaction to the disturbing ways in which it can be used or potentially act out was a stark reminder of the potential threat that this technology poses.

That’s all very serious and dark, and more than a little bit foreboding. Thankfully, Samsung brought a bit of levity to proceedings after it decided to grow a sense of humor and show Apple how easy it is to make a foldable phone — by sticking two iPhones together with duct tape.

In actuality, the entire venture was in aid of showcasing the foldable experience to Apple smartphone users in the hopes of luring them over to the flip side. Awkwardly, if there’s any group of people who wouldn’t need an introduction to the experience of having a bent phone in your pocket, it’s those who would likely have owned the iPhone 6.

September: All hail the iPhone 15 but Microsoft Surface struggles to impress

Speaking of iPhones, Apple’s Wonderlust event would follow, and there we got to see the official reveal of the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro. While nothing much changed on the surface of things, it was all about what was concealed under the hood – with a wealth of hardware and software upgrades making the iPhone experience its best to date.

From Apple’s latest A17 Pro Bionic chipset to an all-new titanium chassis, the iPhone 15 Pro Max would wow and amaze with its incredible performance and gaming potential. Not only that, the photography experience would receive a substantial boost thanks to a 48MP main shooter and a tetraprism telephoto lens. Better still, the iPhone became the first phone able to record spatial video (explaining the rejigging of its lenses), conveniently re-experienced through Apple’s Vision Pro headset in glorious 3D.

One of the more amazing things about Apple’s September showcase was the fact that somebody at Microsoft presumably watched it before thinking to themselves “Yeah, we can follow that.” Spoiler: They couldn’t.

The best thing I can say about Microsoft’s special September Surface event is that “It was a thing that happened” and, as far as I could tell, no animals were harmed in the process. Microsoft’s showcase was narrow in scope and high in price, without much in the way of considerable change. To put it plainly, it was a showcase so abysmally poor that you’d presume the only reason this lineup kept the name Surface was because it had effectively hit rock bottom.

The decline of the Surface lineup was reportedly the result of Microsoft’s shifting focus towards AI, with the tech giant being forced to tighten the purse strings when it came to its more experimental and premium hardware lineup. It would also result in Chief Product Officer Panos Panay abruptly leaving his beloved post as Surface lead — only to be quickly snatched up by Amazon to help bring some of that premium Surface hardware magic to the Bezos brand’s Kindle and Alexa lineup.

Panay may have bitten off more than he can chew on this one. Personally, I believe the only way to bring about the ‘fire’ in a Kindle Fire is to douse it in gasoline and store it next to a batch of faulty live wires. But that’s just me.

October: Microsoft buys Activision and Apple’s ‘Scary Fast’ M3 MacBooks

Apple enjoyed back-to-back victories on the hardware front as they made October the month that they finally unveiled the power of the M3 chip to the world. While it signaled the death of the Macbook Pro 13, it was the dawn of a new generation of Macbook Pro laptops. Faster, more efficient, and now showing considerable gaming potential, it would seem Apple is at the peak of its game with devices like the M3 MacBook Pro 14.

Little did we know at the time that Cupertino’s riding of the Apple Silicon success wave wouldn’t go unchallenged for too much longer. As, in the very near future, Qualcomm would present itself to the world as the next big thing when it comes to performance prowess – announcing the Snapdragon X Elite processor, reportedly up to 21% faster than Apple’s M3.

October also saw Microsoft finally bring a close to its $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard after months of regulatory grilling over antitrust and anti-competitive concerns. Chief rival PlayStation would protest the merger out of fear that Microsoft would make popular titles such as Call of Duty a future console exclusive (and let’s face it, they probably would if they could, the rotters) — something that Sony repeatedly said would be disastrous for the company, hilariously invalidating years of exclusive first-party titles on the PlayStation platform in the process.

However, a deal was eventually struck to ensure the non-exclusivity of Activision’s popular shooter for the next decade, and the only hit to Sony’s reputation would come from the months of salty and accusatory tweets venomously spat by Sony CEO Jim Ryan — as he intentionally stoked the drama on social media in a bid to sway the gaming community to chastise Microsoft for their assumed divisive intentions.

Only for private emails to leak that indicated Ryan had every confidence that Microsoft didn’t intend to take Call of Duty away from PlayStation players in the first place. Oops.

Also announced in October were Google’s latest smartphones, the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro – two AI-infused handsets set to be the first to truly harness 2023’s obsession with generative AI to the fullest. The magic of Google’s Pixel phones isn’t about what’s sitting under the hood, as its Tensor chipsets are often a little middling when it comes to benchmark performance. However, Google’s all-new Tensor G3 did help set the stage for what makes the Pixel a real contender: its incredible software and computational photography potential.

The Pixel 8-Series delighted the Made by Google audience with its Magic Editor, low-light photography, and with its use of generative AI to recreate impressive detail on sections of zoomed-in photographs. There’s something about the Pixel that just reeks of future tech, even if the on-paper numbers don’t seem to align with that conclusion. However, with all that being said, Google failed to use keywords like tetraprism or titanium, so everybody went out and bought an iPhone 15 instead.

November: A cult of personal-GPT

November was the month that saw ChatGPT pioneers, OpenAI, open the doors to its boardroom before promptly throwing beloved CEO Sam Altman out of them like he was DJ Jazzy Jeff in an episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. The underhanded tactics of the board drew ire from OpenAI employees who threatened to quit en masse unless Altman was reinstated.

Making matters worse was the revelation that OpenAI’s Chief Scientist and Altman ousting co-conspirator, Ilya Sutskever, had reportedly begun getting a little cultish in his enthusiasm over the potential creation of a digital being that harnesses Artificial General Intelligence (AGI).

Reports claimed that Sutskever was beginning to behave like some sort of GPT Guru as he led employees in chants of “Feel the AGI!” and even commissioned a wooden effigy of an “unaligned” AI to be made — before promptly setting fire to it in a pseudo ritualistic ceremony to indicate his commitment to OpenAI’s founding principles. Please, tell me I should be incredibly concerned about AI, without telling me I should be incredibly concerned with AI.

Sanity would eventually prevail at OpenAI HQ, when Altman was reinstated and Sutskever and several other complicit board members soon stepped down from their positions. It was all a bit of a whirlwind and it seems like within a week the roles had been entirely reversed – with Altman back in the boardroom and Sutskever being the one trapped outside. Potentially giving an occasional knock and asking if anyone had a moment to talk about our Lord and Savior AGI.

Remember that handheld PC gaming thing? November saw that reach even further highs as Lenovo released the Legion Go – a powerful handheld spin-off of one of the best gaming laptops money can buy.

Making use of the same AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme chipset found in the ROG Ally, Lenovo took the handheld PC gaming experience to the next level by blending it with some of the best things about the Nintendo Switch and Steam Deck – including detachable JoyCon-like controllers that can double as a vertical mouse, and a small trackpad for precise movements. Granted, battery life is still so poor it might as well be powered by clockwork, but it’s an impressive high note to leave the handheld gaming PC on, and sets things up for bigger and better in 2024.

December: Google gaslighting, an end to E3, and the dawn of the AI PC

Looking to end the year on a high, Google would announce its December Feature Drop for Pixel devices, and in doing so introduce the world to Gemini – the company’s new multimodal AI ready to feature in everything from smartphones to servers. Pixel 8 Pro devices would gain first access to Gemini Nano to help with summarizing recordings and offering more accurate Smart Replies in Gboard. But Gemini was capable of so much more, and Google couldn’t wait to show us.

Accompanying Gemini’s announcement was a series of showcase videos highlighting Gemini’s strengths and capabilities. One of which was a hands-on demonstration showing Gemini reacting in real-time to a user’s actions and engaging in a voice-to-voice conversation at the same time. It played a version of the shell game, recognized drawings, tried to solve a magic trick, and even generated music to match what it could see from the video input. It was amazing, it was incredible, it was breathtaking, it was the stuff of dreams and legends. Oh, yeah, and it was fake.

Google pulled the wool over our AIs on this one, showcasing a fake back-and-forth that was heavily edited to gently mislead viewers into thinking Gemini was far more capable than it actually was. 

Thankfully, there was some good news to enjoy this month. Just kidding, guess what? E3 is canceled. And this time we mean canceled-canceled, gone forever. Kaput. One of the landmark gaming conventions for the last 25 years finally gave up the ghost after the-illness-that-shall-not-be-named disrupted the annual showcase, resulting in a struggle to regain its gaming legs ever since.

Geoff Keighley’s immediate power grab for his own Summer Games Fest didn’t help matters either. Now where am I supposed to get my annual fix of cringe from Ubisoft’s Just Dance presentation, Geoff? Answer me that. You just can’t have anything nice nowadays, can you?

Well, you can. This year ended on a particularly high note for laptops as AI actually did something good for once and brought about the age of the AI PC. A new generation of Intel Ultra CPUs came with NPUs in tow, effectively offering the brand’s most up-to-date offerings a dedicated AI engine with which to dramatically improve machine learning and AI workflows.

This dedicated pipeline is not only more efficient and performant, but it also takes the load away from your CPU and GPU, allowing these AI PCs to perform at their best and for longer like never before. These aren’t CES-level concepts either, you can lay your hands on an NPU-touting processor right now by way of laptops like the new MSI Prestige 13 AI EVO or Acer Swift Go 14.

While NPUs have been a popular mainstay for Apple Silicon chips for some time, it's the microprocessor’s first appearance in the wider laptop market, and has the potential to radically change the landscape if put to good use.

Outlook

What a year, and these are technically just the Cliff Notes. If one thing is for certain, next year promises just as many twists and turns as tech shifts further into AI, smart tech further expands into wearable applications, and the line between foldables and laptops continues to blur.

There’s plenty to expect when it comes to the offerings of the tech giants too, as Apple launches its Vision Pro headset, the upcoming revamp of the Apple Watch, the refresh of an iPad lineup left wanting in 2023.

Samsung will likely expand on their foldable fortunes with the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6, and we could even see the widely rumored Galaxy Smart Ring make an appearance – not to mention Samsung’s long-rumored VR headset.

Google is expected to deliver the AI prowess of the Tensor G3 chipset to an affordable handheld in the Pixel 8a, and there’s even the possibility of a clamshell foldable in the Pixel family’s near future.

Even VR is expected to gain a second go at things in 2024 as both Meta and Valve have plans in mind to release a new headset. With other brands like Pico expected to give the market a solid boost too.

It’s a cliché, and it’s well worn out by now, but genuinely, 2024 could be an enormous year for tech. However, that’s not to say it’ll all go smoothly, and I hope I’m lucky enough to be here to moan about it all over again when it doesn’t.

Happy New Year. If you must.

Most of us can use a smartphone detox. Yet, no one can afford to stay offline anymore. Much of our lives are intertwined with our phones, from paying for coffee to keeping in touch to navigating around. And the measly screen time tools phone makers do offer are far too easy to ignore and circumvent. So how can you break your phone attachment issues without going cold turkey? A bunch of new offbeat apps and tricks may hold the answer.  

Several unique apps and hacks have emerged as more effective solutions to cutting screen time. While they may come off as too bizarre to work, most of them tend to target the root causes responsible for keeping us hooked to our screens, and hence can potentially help us develop healthier long-term relationships with our devices. Here are five such unique ways to get your smartphone screen time under control. 

Take a deep breath

An app called One Sec has a simple pitch: take a deep breath before launching into a doom-scrolling session of your favorite app. 

Numerous times throughout the day I would unlock my phone to read a text and somehow end up on Instagram for half an hour. One Sec’s objective is to break these compulsive habits we have all developed and force us to be mindful of what we do on our phones. It does so by introducing friction between you and the apps you get drawn towards the most. 

Once One Sec is enabled, you’ll have to sit through a ten-second breathing exercise before you can get into Instagram, Twitter, or any other app. When that’s over, it will give you two options: you can either continue to the app or select “I don’t want to open [app’s name]” in case you no longer feel the urge. It’s usually the latter for me as those ten seconds are enough for me to realize I didn’t intend the action; it’s almost like my brain was on autopilot. One study found it can help reduce app usage by up to 57% on average. 

One Sec has a couple more handy features: after the breathing exercise, it can give you alternative avenues to pass the time, such as reading that article you’ve been meaning for a while or calling up that friend you haven’t contacted in ages. On One Sec’s free version, you can lock just one app. For $4 a month, you can lock as many apps as you want and unlock a bunch of supplementary features.

Get rid of colors

Phones hook people in the same way slot machines do. We keep tapping and scrolling bright and colorful screens for the various dopamine rewards, and therefore feel a sense of anxiety when we’re away from them for too long. Scientists recommend an easy and effective way out: take the color out of the equation. No one likes a monochrome slot machine and the same is true for a smartphone. 

Going grayscale diminishes the positive reinforcements we draw from using a smartphone and helps us better control our urges. Plus, it barely affects our day-to-day use. Essential functions like calling or scrolling a social media feed will work as normal; The difference would be you just might not feel like doing it for hours on end. 

To make an iPhone screen monochrome, go to Settings > Accessibility > Display & Text Size > Color Filters and switch on the Color Filters toggle. A new option called “Grayscale” will appear. Select it and it’ll right away suck the colors out of the display. 

On an Android phone, navigate to Settings > Accessibility > Color and Motion. Tap “Color correction” and then choose “Grayscale.” Scroll back up and toggle on “Use color correction.”  

Unplug to grow a plant 

Forest is another interesting (and cute) app that can encourage you to put down your phone more often. As its name suggests, the app plants a virtual plant every time you kick off a focus session. The plant’s size depends on how long you can keep going without exiting Forest for a different app and if you fail to complete the session, the plant dies. 

Once you grow enough virtual plants on Forest, it rewards you with coins you can use to plant real trees via the app’s built-in partner. It offers a bunch more features to make the experience compelling. You can compare your tree growth with your friends and unlock new botanical varieties to showcase them on a live homescreen widget. 

Forest has an upfront cost of $3.99 on iOS, while Android users can start for free and then choose to upgrade to a pro account to get rid of in-app ads. 

Swap out the smart for the dumb 

If software speed-breakers aren’t doing the trick for you, it may be time to wrangle your inability to unplug via the hardware route. 

One of the more popular approaches is swapping out your smartphone for a dumb or minimalistic phone. These devices distill the phone experience down to the basics and strip it of all the addictive elements, such as social media apps, games, and big, shiny screens. You can access your essentials like navigation, music, and calls, but unlike a smartphone, there won’t be an app store from where you can tap into an unlimited supply of entertainment. 

There are two kinds of smartphone alternatives you can try: a dumbphone, which is sort of a retro-looking phone (Nokia 2780 Flip) with modern software, supporting services like Google Maps or minimalistic models, such as the Light Phone and Punkt, which are designed for digital detoxing and come preloaded with the absolute bare essentials. You can choose one based on what kind of apps you can’t absolutely live without every day. 

Bonus, miscellaneous tips

Over the last couple of years, as I battled my struggles with letting go of my phone, I’ve made a couple of more, small changes that have proved instrumental in cutting my screen time.

One, I log out each time I use an app I’m hooked to like Instagram. The extra friction, similar to what One Sec promotes, prevents me from mindlessly jumping on Instagram every time I have a free minute or two. 

Two, I exclusively rely on web apps for the services I frequently visit. Compared to their native counterparts, these apps lack a service’s latest time-sucking tricks, while still covering the essentials. On Instagram’s web app, for example, I can never get the reels tab to work, and when it does, the transitions are so sluggish that I give up after a couple of clips. 

“It’s better to burn out than to fade away!” wailed Def Leppard in 1983, the year that cell phones became commercially available. Given that app stores wouldn’t arrive for another couple of decades, the band can be forgiven for not anticipating how the primary way of obtaining apps would affect how long such devices remained viable. (Besides, one shouldn’t read too much into the words of a band whose lyrics included “Gunter glieben glauten globen.”)

Which major mobile OS platform does a better job of keeping apps available for devices as those devices age? Particularly in this age of sustainability consciousness, smartphone companies are doing more to keep their users up to date. Apple generally supports iOS upgrades for up to six years. And at the launch of the Pixel 8, Google announced that the phone would receive seven years of software support, including OS updates.

Even if the latest software features don’t entice, keeping up to date with security updates can offer peace of mind. And particularly for Apple and Samsung flagship device owners, there’s a healthy market for used devices.  But many of those and other devices grow old somewhere. And even very old phones and tablets can still be used for many tasks that once required dedicated devices. 

To nudge developers to use the latest iOS features, Apple would often tout the high percentage of users using the latest versions, Often, though, iOS developers set high bars for a minimum operating system requirement. Many popular apps require an OS no more than three versions behind Apple’s latest. (By the time Apple released the final 7th generation iPod touch in 2019, many apps wouldn’t install on the 6th generation, released in 2015.)

To compensate, Apple at least allows downloading an older version of a previously downloaded app tif a device can’t run the latest version.. (If you haven’t previously downloaded the app, you can download the latest version from a newer device using the same Apple ID to enable that option on the older device.)

Among the reasons iOS apps often outshine their Android counterparts is that Android must accommodate phones that have more modest specifications. But the flip side is that the latest versions of Android apps tend to run on older OS versions for longer, sometimes dramatically so. The following table shows the minimum major OS version, along with its release year, to run some popular cross-platform apps:

It’s worth bearing in mind that the phones that can run these apps can predate the year of the minimum OS release due to upgrades; For example, iOS 17 can be installed on an iPhone XS or XR, released in 2018.

Unlike Apple’s App Store, Google Play doesn’t allow downloading older versions of apps. More adventurous users who have enabled installing apps from unknown sources can turn to an alternative app store such as APKPure, which allows downloading of many older Android app versions back to their original release. Installations of these older versions, however, may require even further work and often fail.

Google also cuts off very old versions of Android from signing into Google Play services; these versions have typically dwindled to 1% or less of the active user base. If you ever have to reset one of the affected phones, you won’t be able to access Google Play to download compatible apps. (You also can’t log into GMail or use other Google apps that require a Google account.) In August, Google started cutting off access to phones running Android 4.4 (“KitKat” when the company used an alphabetical sweets theme to name its versions). While KitKat debuted 10 years ago, it is only one major version removed from 5.1/Lollipop, which is still supported for the latest versions of many leading apps.

Installing an app on affected phones requires downloading an alternative app store (which may also refuse to install), using an alternative app store’s web interface (if the browser supports it), or sideloading the app from a PC. Indeed, I was recently able to use that last option to get some apps onto a novel Japanese device running the ancient Android 1.6 (though several didn’t install).

There are, of course, many factors beyond app store support that determine the effective longevity of an app-centric device. For example, cheap Android devices may use materials that are more prone to break and the manufacturer may never update their Android version. Devices in both camps can fail to work with updated Wi-Fi security standards and even continue beyond the sunsetting of cell service networks like 3G. But factors related to Android’s sprawling device diversity encourage developers to support older operating systems longer. And particularly for those willing to venture beyond Google Play, Android offers more—if spotty—assurance for those who want to install apps until a phone or tablet’s bitter end.

Every time I look up, a new OnePlus 12 leak makes me giggle at iPhone and Samsung owners. Recently, images have been popping up of the OnePlus 12, with OnePlus now releasing pictures and updates regarding what design changes we will see in the OP 12. 

Based on the OnePlus 12 rumors we have been seeing from many outlets, the OP 12 could end up being one of the most potent flagships on the market, and given OnePlus pricing history, it could be the phone that launches the year of the ditch. 

OnePlus is known for giving consumers flagship-level specs that can compete with Samsung and iPhones but for a better price. However, it appears the maker is looking to provide consumers with ultimate-level flagship specs while keeping its price within reach of most consumers' wallets. 

Pricing and availability

OnePlus hasn't even hinted at what the OnePlus 12 will cost or when it will be launched. However, based on previous launches, we could see the 12 in late January or early February 2024. 

Regarding pricing, OnePlus prides itself on delivering flagship specs at consumer-friendly prices. However, based on the expected specs, we could see a slight bump in price to $799 to start and possibly as high as $899. We also hope to see initial trade-in discounts like with the OnePlus Open. 

OnePlus 12: Features 

Most upcoming flagship phones will come with the latest and most excellent chipsets. For Android phones, it will be the newest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8, and for Apple's iPhone, it will be the Bionic, whatever number it's up to now. However, when it comes to the RAM amount, it usually starts at 8GB of RAM, with 12 and 16GB in higher-end devices. Well, that could be about to change. 

Devices in China are rumored to be moving to 24GB of RAM, which could become the new standard for flagship devices. Leaks for the OnePlus Ace 2 Pro (exclusive to China) are rumored to feature a 6.7-inch curved AMOLED panel with 120Hz refresh, a Sony IMX890 camera module, and 24GB of RAM along with 1TB of storage, which is similar to many current flagship devices, except in the area of RAM, which it blows everyone away. So it's not a stretch to imagine its brand sibling arriving with the same rumored 24GB of RAM. 

Leaks of the upcoming OnePlus 12 suggest it could be the first device to launch stateside with this level of performance-enhancing power. The OnePlus 12 is already rumored to come with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, which will use ARM's next-generation hardware, which few have any details yet. 

According to a tweet from insider Kamila Wojciechowska, the new Snapdragon chipset will come with a "2+3+2+1" core configuration, which sounds like Qualcomm won't follow Arm's layout recommendations because rebelling creates innovation. Also, the new chipset is rumored to drop 32-bit support after Qualcomm delayed the action last year, but it looks like it will be going full-on 64-bit with the new chipset.

When you possibly add 24GB of RAM to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, a periscope camera, and, in my opinion, the best skin of Android (Oxygen OS), you've got a device few others will be able to challenge, or even keep up with performance wise. 

I almost forgot that the leak also shares that although the OP 12 is similar in most ways to the 11, it will get a 5,400 mAh battery, which is a massive boost over the current 5,00 mAh battery in the 11. Supposedly, the battery will feature 100W fast charging while wired and 50W wireless fast charging. Wireless charging is missing from the 11; there were complaints, so it's nice to see OnePlus address this. 

During our review of the OnePlus 11, it lasted 12 hours and 48 minutes at 60Hz, and when we switched to adaptive 120Hz, we got 13 hours and 10 minutes of battery life. So, a larger battery could hypothetically push battery life into the 15-hour range. 

If all the rumors hold, The OnePlus 12 could be the flagship phone to rule them all. 

OnePlus 12: Design

While amidst all that is Cyber Monday, OnePlus revealed the design and some images of the upcoming OnePlus 12. You will immediately notice that the famous and iconic Alert Slider has been relocated to the lefthand side of the device. This move allows OnePlus to introduce a new integrated antenna and the Alert Slider solution on the new device to deliver an enhanced antenna performance for gaming. Also, the emerald green color in the image provided is quite striking. 

According to OnePlus, and based on their internal testing, it was determined that the optimal position for gaming antennas is between the forefingers of the user when the phone is held in landscape orientation. However, the Alert Slider has occupied the space on the OnePlus 11. OnePlus feels that by relocating the Alert Slider to the opposite side of the phone, better gaming antennas can be deployed on the OnePlus 12. 

OnePlus states that repositioning the Alert Slider presented a challenge in ensuring optimal antenna signal strength on the same phone side. So, to tackle this issue, OnePlus utilized Ultra-compact Full-band Antenna technology and industry-first Alert Slider Antenna Integration technology to minimize the space occupied by the Alert Slider to the greatest extent possible. As a result, a balance between better antenna signal performance and the presence of the Alert Slider is achieved on the OnePlus 12. According to the lab test data by OnePlus, the gaming antenna signal can be improved by 3dB, with the game latency reduced by 15%.

Outlook

Overall, from the provided images, we can see that outside of the Alert Slider move, the appearance of the 12 is very similar to the 11, which is still one of my favorite designs. Also, having experienced the fantastic image quality that we get with the OnePlus Open, and knowing the 12 will be scheduled to have even better cameras and Qualcomms, already much celebrated Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, the OnePlus 12 will be a flagship that competitors will take seriously. 

OnePlus cemented its foldable phone dominance this year. Will they now topple the likes of Apple and Samsung? Only time will tell, but 2024 could be a fascinating year for mobile devices. 

Black Friday 2023 has arrived and while deals abound in just about every category from laptops to phones, it's also inarguably one of the best times of year to pick up a streaming service subscription. Lucky for us, Paramount Plus takes a steep discount for the next 3 months, so you and I can watch all the shows we've been wanting to dive into.

One of the best streaming services out there, Paramount Plus gives you access to a massive selection of movies and TV shows. You'll also get to enjoy Paramount Plus exclusives like 1923, Mayor of Kingstown, and Tulsa King — all of which I will be watching before the 3 months end. 

You can get Paramount+ for just $1.99 per month w/ads or $3.99 w/ some ads + Showtime for 3 months. If you decide to continue the service, you'll be billed $5.99 a month for Paramount Plus Essential or $11.99 monthly for the semi-ad-free Paramount Plus with Showtime plan. 

This is one of the best Black Friday streaming deals. 

Paramount Plus is a worth considering if you want to switch from cable and a makes a great gift for any occasion. Subscribers can watch movies, TV shows and live TV on up to three devices. It works with Android and iOS, PlayStation, Xbox, Chromecast, Fire TV and more.

Paramount Plus offers two tiers of service plans. The base tier, Paramount Plus Essential costs $5.99/mo. or $59.99 a year ($5/mo.). This plan includes thousands of TV shows and movies, NFL on CBS live, top soccer games, limited ads, and CBSN 24/7 live news. The upper tier, Paramount Plus with Showtime is priced at $11.99/mo. or $119.99 annually ($10/mo.). You get everything in the base tier plus more live sports, no ads (except for live TV and some shows), your local CBS live channel, and download functionality.

Securing yourself this Black Friday deal takes no effort. Simply hit Redeem Now on Paramount Plus' homepage and you'll be taken straight to the deals. You HAVE to click the Redeem Now button, otherwise the deal might not register when you Pick Your Plan.

Remember, this deal lasts for only 3 months. You will not be charged that additional price before your deal ends. If you decide to keep Paramount Plus, you will be automatically billed full price after the deal ends. You may cancel your Paramount Plus plan at any time, so there's no risk.

While small in numbers, the Google Play Store has been subjected to a wave of Versioned-in malware attacks of late — and infections stemming from third-party Android Packages (APKs) is an ever-present threat for Android users.

While Google are hard at work playing whack-a-mole with the former, the company's ability to protect users from third-party apps installed beyond the Google Play Store has just been given a notable boost thanks to a recent Google Play Protect update.

Google Play Protect: What is it?

Google Play Protect is the Android app store's bulwark when it comes to safeguarding against spyware and malware intrusions. It's built-in to Google Play services already, and has been protecting millions of users from bad-faith apps for years.

Play Protect scans ~125 billion Play Store apps daily on the Google backend to ensure its databases are always up to date. An essential task given the latest Versioning tactic used by malicious developers to sneak apps past Google's malicious code detection systems.

Should Play Protect find a malicious app, it can then take actions, either by warning users, preventing the app from installing, or disabling apps automatically.

Google Play Protect: real-time scanning keeps Android users safer

Play Protect historically keeps install numbers of malicious apps through the Play Store down to a fraction of a percent. However, this has led to a rise in harmful apps being pushed onto Android users outside of the Play Store through direct downloads of APKs by using links in SMS messages, websites, and messaging apps.

While Play Protect can still warn users if the malicious app is already known to Google, these apps exist "off the grid" to the Play Store, and typically never pass through Google's rigorous checks — leaving users exposed to potentially harmful attacks.

In response, Google have enhanced Play Protect to keep users installing apps inside and outside of the Google Play Store safer than ever. The update, which began rolling out to users yesterday, sees Play Protect now offer real-time, code-level scanning of unknown apps in order to detect malicious intent or variations of harmful code.

This real-time analysis will then be able to inform users if a third-party APK is safe to install and pass this information back to Google's servers to keep others safe in future.

Google Play Protect: How to enable Google Play Protect

Google Play Protect is enabled by default on Android Phones making use of Google Play Services. However, if you want to make sure you're protected let's go through the steps of making sure this feature is currently active.

Step 1: Open the Google Play Store.

Step 2: At the top right, tap on your profile icon.

Step 3: Tap Play Protect, and then Settings.

Step 4: Make sure "Scan Apps with Play Protect" is set to On. 

Outlook

While this seems like a minor update on the surface, the enhancement to Google Play Protect is a notable leap in security for Android phones. Not only will more Google Play Store users be safer from unknown threats, but so too will those making use of unregistered APKs.

Each app scanned by Play Protect aids in training Google's machine learning algorithms, helping it recognize threats easier. This includes advanced threats such as polymorphic and AI incursions that prove both difficult to detect and even more difficult to remove from a user's device.

As an update to this piece, a Google representative has informed us that Google Play Protect is aware of the core SpyNote threat and users are protected against its installation. "Google implemented user protections for this spyware ahead of this report's publication. Users are protected by Google Play Protect, which can warn users or block apps known to exhibit malicious behavior on Android devices with Google Play Services."You can read more about Google Play Protect's new real-time scanning feature for unknown applications here.

Android users have been put on spyware high-alert as a banking trojan by the name of SpyNote has recently returned to the limelight.

The Android-based malware has been a background security threat for users since 2022. However, now in its third revision and with source code of of one of its variants (known as 'CypherRat') having leaked online in January of 2023, detections of this spyware have spiked throughout the year.

SpyNote isn't like many of the threats Android users face. You won't find it tucked away inside of an innocuous app on the malware infected hellscape that is Google Play — at least not for now.

Instead, its primary method of spreading is through 'Smishing' or SMS phishing. These SMS messages can range from government updates to social media alerts with links to malicious apps. Here users will be misled into downloading an Android Package file (.APK), that works outside of the Google Play Store to infect a device and begin it's nefarious deeds.

SpyNote: What does it do?

As stated, SpyNote's primary method of infection is through SMS phishing attacks. However, variants of the spyware do exist and its methods of infection may evolve over time.

If you're unlucky enough to fall foul of these attempts, the third-party app (while posing as an official update or legitimate service) tricks the user into accepting various permissions — after which, it will hide itself from view and begin to work behind the scenes at collecting user data in the following ways.

• Audio recording: Including microphone access and phone calls.
• Camera recording: Being able to access a victims camera for pictures or video.
• Keylogging: Recording every input and tap you make on your device.
• Credential theft: Stealing user logins (usernames, passwords, passkeys, and more) by intercepting banking, crypto wallets, and social media apps.
• Screen recording: Through screenshot captures and device streaming.
• GPS tracking: Accessing location services to track a victims location.

SpyNote: Do I have it, and how do I remove it?

SpyNote's presence is hard to detect, and even harder to remove. If you've accessed a link to an app through SMS at any point, one of the ways you can tell if SpyNote is present on your device is by seeing if it reacts to you opening your device's Settings menu.

The purpose of any piece of spyware is to collect as much information as possible, as such it needs to stay on the device for as long as possible. One of SpyNote's methods of ensuring this is to repeatedly close the settings menu whenever it is opened — preventing users from uninstalling the third-party app through the usual menus.

Amit Tembe, a researcher at security firm F-Secure, SpyNote is a particularly difficult piece of software to remove from your device "often necessitating a factory reset, resulting in data loss."

Sadly, this seems like it's often the best way of removing the troublesome spyware from your system, before changing any and all logins you may use afterwards to prevent the spread, sale, and use of your credentials without permission.

Outlook

SpyNote's pervasive pilfering of your information runs incredibly deep. Meaning removing it from your phone will be only half the journey when it comes to recovering from its effects.

As always, to avoid instances like this, Laptop Mag recommend only downloading apps through verified channels such as the Google Play Store. While it might not be perfect and security vulnerabilities will happen from time to time. It's the much safer alternative to downloading third-party Android Packages (.APKs) that bypass Google's security steps altogether.

The Backbone One is easily my favorite smartphone game controller, but the launch of iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro has raised some questions about the future of it.

Namely, there are two: will the USB-C version for Android be compatible? And what’s happening to the pre-existing Lightning option? 

To answer these real quick, thanks to a universal technology (patent-pending), the Android version will work with new iPhones, and if you already have an old model, you’re going to have to pony up for a new one.

USB-Cya soon, Lightning controller!

With the likes of Resident Evil Village and Assassin's Creed Mirage debuting on iPhone 15 Pro over the next few months, a controller will be needed. Backbone has answered the call with Universal Compatibility for its USB-C model across both iOS and Android.

If you are making the jump to the iPhone 15 series, and you already have a Backbone for your pre-existing model, it’s time to trade up. Every new Backbone sold from the launch of the new iPhone onwards will have this tech built-in with no additional firmware needed.

Meanwhile, if you already have a USB-C version of the Backbone, it will automatically receive a firmware update through the Backbone app to be made compatible with USB-C iPhones. 

This does mean that if you have a Lightning version of the controller, you are left high and dry with the need to buy another controller, though.

Outlook

Let's be honest — this was the only scenario for iPhone users with a Backbone One. There was never going to be a lightning to USB-C adapter sold separately because the rigidity of the device’s controller would be compromised, and the ergonomics would be thrown way off.

It’s going to mean another purchase for those who have loved Backbone in the past, which is a little annoying. However, with the likes of the above games and Death Stranding (as Hideo Kojima announced on his Instagram) coming to the iPhone, a controller is going to be essential, and this is one of the best.

After yesterday's Apple Wonderlust event, where we saw new iPhones and Apple Watches, some were left saddened by the lack of an announcement of a new iPad. While you may not be getting new hardware just yet, Apple didn't forget iPad fans completely; iPadOS 17 is coming September 18, and it looks like an interesting update. 

For now we'll have to let our visions of an iPad mini 7 continue to dance in our heads and I'll keep saving my pennies for when it does arrive.

Apple is great at quietly working on the next best thing while keeping its devices updated with new improvements to its outstanding iPadOS, and the tech goliath has even given us a glimpse of what's to come. 

iPadOS 17 

If you visit the iPadOS 17 preview page and slide past all the improved, personalized lock screen and motion effect live photo wallpaper nonsense, you'll discover some solid upgrades, like the new Widgets on the lock screen.

The upgrade will feature interactive widgets that allow you to play music, turn off lights in your home, and more, simply by tapping a widget icon.

Improvements to iMessage let you quickly catch up on a conversation and keep abreast of all the details from start to finish. There is an improved iMessage Search feature to help you locate messages faster.

Also, audio messages can be transcribed for reading if you can't listen to them. There's also an improved sticker interface and the ability to create stickers from your own photos.

The app iPadOS 17 update I'm very impressed with is FaceTime. FaceTime is the one reason I still have an iPhone. You can use your iPad in conjunction with Apple TV, use your iPad as a camera, and view the call on your television.

You can also use your hands to trigger 3D augmented reality effects like hearts, confetti, or fireworks within FaceTime. Lastly, you'll be able to quickly record a video or audio message if someone misses your call, which is a feature that has been around on Android for a while now.

Apple's Health app comes with iPad, is optimized for the larger display, and will feature mental and vision health applications.

You can now quickly handle PDFs and Notes with the new Autofill feature, which you can use with an Apple Pen. You can now link notes and collaborate with others in real time on PDFs. 

You can read more about the upgrades on the iPadOS 17 preview page, and while I'm happy for the update, I'd still rather have that new iPad mini 7. 

iOS 17 is soon to launch following iPhone 15’s announcement later today, and there’s one feature that I feel a little embarrassed to say is my absolute favorite.

You see, among the many new additions that enrich the whole experience, it’s probably one of the more gimmicky features to be introduced — StandBy Mode. Let me tell you a little bit about my experience that quickly converted me from a skeptic to a lover of this full blown nightstand mode.

Life on StandBy

For the uninitiated, StandBy Mode gives you a full-screen nightstand-esque experience. Simply slap your phone on a MagSafe charger and turn it sideways and you’ll be presented with a full screen set of widgets — from a simple clock to Live Activities, favorite photos or even Smart Stacks to get access to a whole host of information at once.

In a sea of new features from iOS 17, this has quickly stood out as my most used thanks to my charging stands in the kitchen, bedroom, and on my desk. While I can talk about some functional reasons why, such as its ease of use and presentation, the key reason why I love it comes down to removing a distraction.

Now I’m just being honest here, people, and if my manager reads this, I’m sorry. But with my phone placed on my desk, it becomes all too easy to grab it and check notifications — resulting in yet another TikTok wormhole. However, with the screen being used in StandBy mode showing me what notifications come in as I go, I find it so much easier to just glance and carry on with my work.

Simple yet effective

StandBy Mode is another one of those features where Android devices brought it to the table, before Apple swooped in and made it work oh so smoothly. It’s also a little frustrating because there’s so much more good stuff going on in iOS 17.

Live Voicemail is great for avoiding people you don’t like, creating personalized contact posters is a lot of fun, and the changes to AirDrop make it a game changer. But yet, out of everything I use, StandBy mode is probably my most used (and favorite) feature of the bunch — even though it is one of the smaller additions.

According to a report in 9To5Mac, a new WhatsApp third-party chat feature has been spotted in the app's code. This makes sense as companies rush to comply with a new European law on messaging interoperability, which Apple is currently fighting. Apple's issue is that iMessage would become subject to antitrust law, arguing that it doesn't have enough users in Europe to fall under the parameters of the new law. 

According to the WhatsApp beta info page, you can now see a new screen titled "Third-party Chats" within the latest beta of WhatsApp. According to the page, WhatsApp Beta version 2.23.19.8 is working to meet compliance with the new EU regulations by developing chat interoperability support; the new capability should be available in a future update. 

What is interoperability messaging?

The European Union's reasoning behind its new set of regulations is to create a situation where messaging works across multiple platforms (Google Messenger, iMessage, WhatsApp, Facebook messages) to keep people connected regardless of which devices or operating system their chosen devices use. I thought WhatsApp already does that, but what do I know? I just used my iPhone to send a message to my Android phone and then rolled my eyes.

As you can see in the image, the WhatsApp team is diligently working on the new dedicated window that will allow for cross-platform messaging and come into compliance with the EU's new edict. 

The EU created the Digital Markets Act (DMA) specifically to push tech monopolies to create a more cohesive messaging system that allows start-up messaging apps to have an equitable opportunity within the ecosystem.

EU overreach? 

I hate to say this, but the new EU law seems to be aimed directly at Apple and its refusal to join Google's push for RCS messaging across platforms, which Apple has playfully rejected. 

Although the EU's DMA initiative sounds like it's meant to ensure that family and friends can message across platforms. Which may be a great idea with consumers in mind. However, It feels like an overreach on the EU's part, which has become par for the course these past several months as the governing body has been picking fights with Apple, and other tech companies.

Even Britain, with its dramatic "girl bye" exit from the EU, has recently been trying to reign in Apple. I hate to sound like an Apple stan, I'm not, but if Apple doesn't want to join the EU's messaging club, they should have the freedom of choice to not. 

In the past six months, member countries in the EU have banned Chromebooks and are now embroiled in several court battles with Apple. The new iPhone 15 lineup drops tomorrow with a USB-C port, thanks to the EU, which, bravo, I am happy that Apple has joined the rest of the world in 2023, but again, it feels like tampering. 

That's enough from me, I will go back to cross-platform messaging from my iPhone to my Android phone on WhatsApp, Sigh. 

Samsung has suffered various leaks revealing that the company is developing an XR headset of some kind, with images of early models (via Android Authority) showcasing what prototypes currently look like. But rumors keep piling up, with a new one suggesting that the company is looking for methods of implementing scents into the experience.

Twitter user @Tech_Reve claims that both "touch and smell" are being considered by the company for implementation. Beyond that, "related technology" is set to be unveiled at Samsung System LSI Tech Day on October 5.

Samsung's XR headset could implement scents

Considering the leak suggests the company is still only considering touch and smell, we're not expecting that will be part of the "related technology" being revealed at Samsung's event next month. Instead, it might just be a reveal that the company is working on an XR headset.

That same leaker also claimed that the headset's display specs are "impressive, with over 3000ppi." It might be this is in the realm of what Samsung will focus on during this event.

But it's fascinating that Samsung might take a dive into a scent-based experience with this new headset, especially since none of the other big VR/AR/XR headset companies are doing this. Apple Vision Pro and Meta Quest Pro haven't tried to come close to something like this quite yet.

It would be a total shock if Samsung could successfully implement this sort of thing, but don't expect it to be a surefire confirmation. Smell-based technology has never made it to the consumer level in a VR/XR/AR headset, and in general, the technology is incredibly rare in general. We have our doubts because of this, so we're not fully expecting Samsung to pull through with this implementation. 

Shop the Discover Samsung Fall Event and save big with weeklong deals of the day. For today only, you can get an unlocked Galaxy S23 Smartphone for just $599. Normally $799, that's $200 in savings and the lowest price ever for this phone outright. Plus, save up to an extra $725 via Samsung's trade-in offer. 

If you want to refresh your phone for the upcoming fall season, this is one of the best phone deals you can get.

Today's best Galaxy S23 deal

Samsung's Galaxy S23 is one of the best smartphones for Android users or anyone switching from iPhone. The base model Galaxy S23 features a 6.1-inch, (2340 x 1080) Dynamic AMOLED 2X 120Hz display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 8-core CPU, 8GB of RAM, Adreno 740 graphics, and 128GB of storage. Powering the phone is a 3,900mAh battery with Super Fast Charging 2.0. 

In our Galaxy S23 hands-on review, we were impressed by the phone's strong brightness and smooth scrolling One UI. We found it to be fast and responsive and loaded with Samsung features. 

For those who like to document their lives and create content, the Galaxy S23 makes it easy to capture amazing high resolution photos and videos. It's outfitted with a 50MP wide-angle,12MP ultrawide, and 10MP telephoto lens. Enhanced optical image stabilizer (OIS) helps you take blur-free images even in low light. Meanwhile, the Galaxy S23's 10MP front camera lets you snap selfies and video call friends and family.

Now $200 off, the Galaxy S23 is a wise choice if you're due for an upgrade. This deal ends Sept. 12. 

iPhone 15 is steadily approaching with Apple's September event set for the 12th. We've predicted an exact release date on September 22, although the iPhone 15 Pro Max delay rumors could take it beyond September. And even with Apple's next flagship phone not even in our hands yet, iPhone 16 rumors are already overwhelming the internet.

However, now we're getting a glimpse even further into the future with iPhone 17 rumors, even though the phone is more than two years away from release. This latest rumor comes from industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple will implement "its own modem chip starting in 2025" (via Android Authority). If true, this should apply to the iPhone 17.

Apple branded modem chip inside an iPhone 17?

Qualcomm is the current primary supplier for Apple's 5G modem chips, but Apple's rumored shift to its own line would further prove that the company is doing this on a large scale across multiple products. 

It has only been a few years since laptops powered by Apple Silicon through the original M1 chip were released after the company made a shift over from Intel processors.

But Kuo's information doesn't completely confirm which iPhone model will be launched with the modem first. iPhone 15 is certainly launching this year, while 2024 will be reserved for iPhone 16. 

Considering Kuo claims 2025 will be when Apple is "expected to use" its own chips, we will likely see it on the iPhone 17. The only other alternative for a late 2025 launch would be a cellular iPad model, but Apple is no stranger to delays so we could see it pushed back to iPhone 18 in 2026.

We expect to get a full collection of iPhone 17 rumors at the start of next year, as we received plenty of iPhone 16 leaks early in 2023. 

Google Pixel 8 Pro leaks and rumors should always be taken with a pinch of salt, but there’s one source that’s virtually gospel when the grapevine's lips get loose — Google themselves.

Unearthed by Dylan Roussel on X/Twitter, Google has recently begun hosting a Pixel Phone Simulator that gives users a chance to get to know its upcoming flagship device from all angles. We're just not entirely sure if we were meant to know about it yet.

Google Pixel 8 Probed

This is the most in-depth look at Google’s Pixel 8 Pro to date, and one we can bank on for providing wholly accurate information. Along with being able to take three color variants (Porcelain, Blue, and Black)  on a full 360-degree spin, Google has highlighted some of the key features Pixel 8 Pro owners will be enjoying after the smartphone's suspected October 4 launch date.

Sadly, detailed specifications aren’t included in the Pixel simulator, however, there’s enough to accurately depict what’s on offer — including confirmation of the Pixel 8 Pro’s new rear-facing temperature sensor.

Other labeled features detail the contents of the Pixel 8 Pro’s camera bar including a rear-facing camera array of a wide lens, ultrawide lens, and 5x telephoto lens. This is also where we find the aforementioned temperature sensor, alongside a rear-facing mic and LED flash.

Outlook

Google's upcoming flagship is expected to launch on October 4, powered by the company's new Google Tensor G3 processor. That gives us a little more time to find out more about the device ahead of its official unveiling, with many of us excited to learn about its software capabilities when taking full advantage of the latest Android 14 OS.

For news, rumors, and updates on all things Pixel and Google, follow Laptop Mag on Twitter, Facebook, and Flipboard for the latest word as it arrives.