Latest Articles
This week we learned that both AT&T and T-Mobile plan to make VoLTE a hard requirement for their networks in the next couple years. Folks using older phones that don't support the technology will be left behind if they don't upgrade. Most recent phones do support VoLTE, though some enthusiasts running custom ROMs or using imported devices might be in trouble. We're curious how many of our readers might be affected by this change, so: Does your phone support VoLTE (HD Voice) on your carrier?
No, your phone is not going to stop working on AT&T soon — here's what you need to know
The email is real, but nothing is happening for 18+ months
This week, AT&T began sending out an email that (rather misleadingly) told a large number of its subscribers that their phones would stop working on the network soon, and that they needed to upgrade. Straight up: this email is mostly BS. It's authentic, and AT&T sent it, but the action they're recommending you take — namely, buying a new phone — is not something you need to do for at least another 18 months, if not longer or potentially at all. Here's what you need to know.
While we know a lot about the (seemingly endlessly) upcoming Pixel 4a, there's a whole lot about Google's 2020 smartphone strategy we can't quite clear the fog on just yet. And what we even do know suggests 2020 is going to be a very weird for year for Pixel: A small Pixel 4a, a large Pixel 4a 5G, and a small Pixel 5. We know what chips they'll have (the 4a will get a Snapdragon 730, while the latter two phones will get 765s), and we know at least the Pixel 5 will probably feature a multi-camera array and things like wireless charging (...hopefully).
Google's 2020 smartphone strategy looks like a mess
No Pixel 4a XL, no Pixel 5 XL, and now Pixel 4a 5G? ugh
It sure looks like the Google Pixel smartphone lineup is about to get weird. Based on what we know so far, it looks like there will be a Pixel 4a, a Pixel 4a 5G, and a Pixel 5. A defunct Pixel 4a XL is out of the picture, and there was never even a leak suggesting the existence of a Pixel 5 XL to begin with. This has rightly left many bewildered: just what is Google trying to accomplish here? While I won't claim to have all the answers, I do think there's a lens worth interpreting this through, and that lens is Google's Silicon Valley rival, Apple.
It's official: Samsung will reveal the Galaxy Note20 on August 5th
Galaxy Unpacked 2020 is less than a month away
On Wednesday, August 5th, Samsung is likely to reveal the long-expected Galaxy Note20 and Note20 Ultra smartphones at a virtual event. Galaxy Unpacked 2020, as it's officially known, will begin at 10AM EST that morning via a video livestream. New models of Samsung's Galaxy Buds and a next-generation Galaxy Watch smartwatch are also expected to be formally launched at the event.
In a statement provided to Android Police, Google has confirmed that its Pixel 3a and 3a XL smartphones are now discontinued. No more stock will be made available on the Google store, and the phone will only remain available through a handful of 3rd party retailers as remaining units sell through. Google's full statement, via a Google spokesperson, follows below.
Apple's chipset advantage has me more jealous than ever
Apple's empire is now single-silicon, and there's no denying it's enviable
A couple of months back, word got around that Google was designing its own smartphone chipset. Though similar chatter has circled the internet for years, Google itself has never commented on such speculation, and never confirmed its plans to get in the processor game. At WWDC this week, meanwhile, Apple doubled down on its commitment to chips in the biggest way it ever has. All that has me, as a lifelong Android user, feeling more than a little envious at the moment.
mmWave 5G is facing more uncertainty than ever
A double-gut-punch of pricey phones and a faltering economy threaten the march of 5G progress
Millimeter wave 5G hasn't had an easy time of it, as a technology. It's been panned for fickle connectivity, extremely limited coverage, and being too thinly-deployed to even meaningfully use (not to mention the absolute nonsense conspiracies some people are spreading about it). It doesn't help that mmWave only has one truly active booster in the United States—Verizon. The company says its existing plans for 5G mmWave deployments around the country haven't changed in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the current crisis raises a valid question: if we won't be gathering in large groups for the foreseeable future—let alone in stadiums or concert halls—does mobile mmWave even make sense anymore, and did it ever?
Google has declared open war against its videoconferencing rivals
Bundling Google Meet into Gmail isn't just aggressive, it's an app-based invasion
Today, Google announced that Google Meet—the company's young videoconferencing platform—would imminently be bundled into the Gmail applications for Android and iOS devices. It would receive front and center billing, and result in the Gmail app being bifurcated into two top level interfaces: Gmail and Google Meet. Gmail is one of the rare apps to enjoy a 5 billion-plus install count on the Play Store, meaning billions upon billions of Android devices worldwide will soon, by relation, have Google Meet as well (notably, Meet is still limited a few dozen large countries). There is now no doubt in my mind whatsoever: Google intends to win the videoconferencing war, and it intends to play dirty.
Spotify is holding my favorite podcast hostage with its terrible app
I support creators hustling corporations for cash, but Spotify is ruining the podcast experience
Last November, my favorite podcast—The Last Podcast On The Left—signed a 2-year exclusive distribution agreement with Spotify, for what was very likely a very substantial sum of money. That deal meant that as of February 2020, the show would only be available for Spotify users. And it wasn't just The Last Podcast On The Left, but the entire Last Podcast Network (LPN) and all of its millions of listeners. They would have to download Spotify to listen to new episodes of LPN's many popular shows, and they would no longer be able to do so via traditional podcast feeds (the exception being LPOTL Patreon subscribers, who can still access a traditional feed by paying /month).
The Pixel 4a has already lost to the iPhone SE
The Pixel 4a is nowhere in sight, and the iPhone SE is eating its lunch
Apple launched brand-new iPhone SE this spring, and it's already been pitted against the expected Pixel 4a as the budget smartphone war of the year. But it's a war I think Google has already lost. With the Pixel 4a nowhere in sight, the iPhone SE continues to win praise from critics, is selling well, and no major flaws or issues have emerged. With Google not expected to launch the Pixel 4a until later this summer, I think the budget phone battle ended before it even had a chance to begin.
Of course Google should make a successor to the Google Home
Not doing so would be incredibly foolish
The original Google Home was a wildly successful product. Google sold millions of its debut smart speaker, and when it came on the scene in late 2016 to challenge Amazon's Echo, while it lost the market share battle, Google showed the world a smart speaker didn't have to feel quite so dumb. It is plainly obvious Google should build a successor to this now-discontinued product.
At earliest, the top infectious disease official in the United States says a coronavirus vaccine may be deployable at scale by the very tail end of 2020. If everything goes right, and the vaccine works. And not for everybody, at least not until early 2021. Again, this is at the earliest if everything goes exactly right. In unrelated news, CES thinks it can hold a giant convention next January.
Google Search aims to make ctrl+F a thing of the past, will start highlighting relevant text on actual web pages
It's as helpful a change as it is an obvious one
Google Search will soon start to highlight snippet text from results on the web pages you click. If that doesn't immediately sound like the greatest thing since sliced bread, stick around, because I think you'll actually love this simple new feature from the Chromium team.
This $5,800 Wear OS watch is approaching the height of pointlessness
Clearly, a sound investment in these uncertain times
One of the longstanding justifications for the luxury watch owner has been investment. Rare and desirable watches often appreciate in value over time, or at least lose far less of their value than something like a new luxury car or a boat (well, until the economy craters). At auction, extremely rare watches can go for tens of millions of dollars, which has solidified their place alongside fine art and classic cars as a legitimate place to "park" large sums of money.
Google cancels Android 11 Beta launch event, citing protests around US
There's no sign as to when it will be rescheduled, understandably
Android 11's scheduled June 3rd launch event has been cancelled. Google calls it a delay, but the reality is that whatever plans Google had for the launch have now been overshadowed by a national spread of protests spurred by the death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minnesota earlier this week. While Google did not explicitly name the protests as the reason for the delay, the implication of the tweet, embedded below, was obvious.
This viral video shows how the Pixel's live voice transcription absolutely destroys the iPhone's (and why it matters)
"Speed is a feature"
We all know Google's speech transcription technology is really, really, really good. Not only is it the best in the industry, it's doing it without a data connection: Pixels have been transcribing audio on-device for some time now, and that's been owed to Google's extremely impressive transcription algorithms that utilize machine learning hardware on its smartphones. But accuracy isn't everything when it comes to transcription, even if it the single most important feature—speed matters too.
T-Mobile's mid-band 5G network is now cracking 1Gbps, showing Verizon and AT&T are seriously screwed
Mid-band spectrum is resulting in some seriously fast downloads, no mmWave required
If you ask Verizon, they'll tell you gigabit 5G is only possible with the power of (seriously difficult to deploy and expensive) mmWave technology. Recent tests of T-Mobile's fully live 5G mid-band network in New York City would like to have a word with Verizon on that point, though: testers have begun cracking the gigabit barrier on some handsets, as revealed in SpeedTest.net's latest reporting.
OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro 4G/5G US network bands and compatibility: Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile
The OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro are the most US-friendly OnePlus phones to date, working on all 3 major operators
Read update
Whether you're on T-Mobile, Verizon, or AT&T, the new OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro will probably meet your connectivity needs, as the phones support almost every 4G LTE and 5G band currently deployed in any significant area of the United States. Just in case, though, here's a quick guide that should let you understand how the phone will perform on each carrier's network. This information comes direct from OnePlus' own documentation for the OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro so you can trust it's accurate.
Google confirmed to us via email last night that it pulled down the listing for a Dark Sky ripoff that had been on the Play Store for at least the last week, just hours after we'd reported on it. The URL for that app now directs to a "Not found" page on the Play Store. Google declined to elaborate on the reasoning behind taking down the app, but we'd guess out and out trademark infringement and a plain intent to deceive users were reason enough.