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The Honor Magic 6 Pro and its huge battery are official
We also finally know what Honor’s Porsche Design Magic V2 foldable will cost
Honor already launched its new flagship phone, the Magic 6 Pro, in China in January. At MWC 2024, the company is now making its latest high-end handset official for Western markets, slated to grace Europe and more regions soon. With the Magic 6 Pro, the company is significantly stepping up its hardware game, leapfrogging the competition in some key areas. Let’s dive into what sets it apart.
Honor Magic 6 Pro review: I want this battery in every phone
The Honor Magic 6 Pro is jam-packed with the latest hardware and offers a battery like no other
Ever since Huawei was forced out of the US and other Western markets, its former subsidiary Honor has done its best to fill the hole left by what was once one of the most popular smartphone makers around the globe. While Honor still isn't there, it's on a growth trajectory. The company achieves this with its ever-improving lineup of flagship phones and some formidable hardware advancements in the foldable sector with the ultra-thin Magic V2.
Everyone believed an obvious Gmail hoax because Google can't stop killing products
Google needs to fix its infamous reputation for stopping projects on a whim
This week, the rumor was Google would shut down Gmail on August 1, 2024. It's a baseless hoax that doesn't make any sense — after all, Gmail is the cornerstone of Google's Workspace platform and its account management system. The fact that many people fell for the fake shutdown notice that circulated on X paints a grim picture for Google, though. With the company shutting down or rebranding project after project over the last few years, many people no longer find it implausible that Google could kill a service as essential as Gmail. That's a big problem for the company.
Signal and Threema want nothing to do with WhatsApp
WhatsApp will have to offer interoperability in the EU, but other messengers don't seem interested
As part of the wide-reaching Digital Markets Act, many big tech companies have to change the way they work and process data in the EU. One of the targeted businesses is Meta, with WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger deemed to be gatekeepers that may prevent smaller competitors from reaching relevant market share. That’s why Meta has to offer interoperability with other messengers in March 2024, but it looks like two promising competitors aren’t interested at all.
Google Chrome is rolling out Help me write
The generative AI writing feature arrives right on schedule
Google announced a whole slew of AI features for Chrome last month, including automatic tab organization and AI wallpaper generation. While those two features are already live, Google also announced Help me write, an AI-assisted writing tool, which was slated to come later. This time has now arrived, with the company officially rolling out Help me write in the US.
AT&T is down for many, 911 calling also affected
Switch to Wi-Fi Calling or landline if you need to reach 911
Many people in the US woke up to poor or non-existent mobile connectivity this morning. A big outage affects mostly AT&T customers and MVNOs that use AT&T’s network, including some government services. AT&T recommends using Wi-Fi calling while it resolves the issues, with some emergency departments jumping in to encourage using landline or different providers when you need to call 911.
These MagSafe adapters have me excited for Qi2 on Android
My Belkin MagSafe camera accessories are ready to turn my Android phone into the perfect drop-in webcam
Even though Android is my preferred operating system, I still have a trusty old iPhone 13. As a tech blogger and Android Police’s Google editor, that just makes sense — I need to know the competition to better understand and cover Google’s products. One thing I love about Apple’s ecosystem is MagSafe, and I’m happy to see that it will come to Android soon in the form of the Qi2 wireless charging standard.
Google pauses Gemini's ability to generate images of people
The AI was caught generating problematic content like racially diverse Nazis
Google’s multimodal generative Gemini AI is capable of creating a multitude of outputs, including images. After the tool was caught repeatedly creating inaccurate images of historic scenes, Google has now decided to pull the emergency brake and temporarily paused Gemini’s ability to create images of people altogether.
Following Gemini, meet Google’s latest AI models: Gemma
Gemma is Google’s latest generation of open AI models for developers
Generative AI development is incredibly fast-paced. Just a few months after Google first announced its next-generation Gemini model, the company recently went public with the next version of its generative model, Gemini 1.5. Just as all eyes are focused on Gemini and its big GPT competition from OpenAI, Google has announced yet another AI advancement. The company has revealed Gemma, its new family of open models developed by DeepMind and other divisions.
The Google Pixel 6 Pro's overheating issues are now a legal matter
A class action lawsuit filed against Google alleges the company sold defect hardware on purpose
Google’s hardware products are routinely plagued by issues, so much so that some of our team members won’t unequivocally recommend Pixel phones anymore. The problems are nothing new, and the company had to deal with multiple class action lawsuits over the years, started and joined by customers disgruntled with the quality of their hardware. There is now a new class action lawsuit in town, alleging Google knowingly sold overheating Pixel 6 Pro units.
Google Messages is likely the chat app Google has taken most seriously out of all its failed attempts in the past. The RCS and SMS messenger keeps getting updates with important security features and quality-of-life enhancements. The latest improvement is the ability to double tap to send a thumbs-up reaction, which is currently rolling out in the beta version of Messages.
Here’s what the Nothing Phone 2a probably really looks like
Some earlier leaked renders showed a vastly different and likely incorrect design
Read update
Nothing will release its first budget phone, the Phone 2a, on March 5. With the date fast approaching and Nothing itself teasing preliminary details about the upcoming handset, there are only some open questions left. The exact design of the phone’s back was long left up for debate, with an incorrect render recently retracted, but it looks like we now have a good look at what the Nothing Phone 2a will actually look like.
The Samsung Galaxy S23 will be part of the Bluetooth Auracast revolution
One UI 6.1 supports broadcasting Bluetooth signals to multiple sources on select devices
Bluetooth is in for a small revolution thanks to LE Audio and Auracast. While the former promises much lower energy consumption at roughly the same audio quality, the latter is a radio-style broadcasting standard that makes it possible to connect multiple audio devices to a single device. Samsung has now revealed that it will bring Auracast support to its 2023 flagship devices as part of One UI 6.1.
Chrome for Android could soon let you group a single tab
Creating a starting point for a tab group will be easier that way
Tab groups are a relatively recent addition to browsers, making it possible to bundle similar tabs or a related browsing session in a single place. While you could start new tab groups with only a single tab in them on Chrome’s desktop version for ages, this capability has only now shown up in a pre-release version of Chrome for Android, Chrome Canary 124.
Google hid its macOS Android File Transfer app while launching Android 15 DP1
Is the company getting ready to finally update the outdated tool?
Android phones and Macs don’t work well together, particularly when it comes to transferring files from one to the other via USB. Apple’s macOS can't natively hook devices that use MTP for file transfer, like Android phones. That’s where the Android File Transfer app comes in, a little helper application for the Mac created by Google that makes it possible to move files between Android and macOS. Shortly after the launch of Android 15’s first developer preview, the download link for this tool has disappeared from the Android website, though.
Android 15 sticks with Android 14's space theme for some reason
What’s up with Google’s newfound love for the final frontier?
The Android 15 developer preview is finally here, and long with it, Google unveiled a new logo for the new version. In contrast to the big jump from Android 13 to Android 14, which switched from a generic Material You-style shape with a 13 in it to a full on NASA badge, Google didn’t make a big tweak for Android 15.
Android 15 leaves Snapdragon Pixels behind, and I'm sad
The era of Tensor-powered Pixel phones is officially in full swing
Android 15 doesn’t seem like a release that will fundamentally change the way Android works and looks like Android 12 and 5 before it. In one way, Android 15 is still the beginning of a new era, though. Now that Google has announced the first Android 15 developer preview, DP1, we know which of its Pixels will be officially compatible with. For the first time since the launch of the Pixel 6, Google’s lineup is all in on the custom Tensor chip, leaving behind the Pixel Snapdragon era.
Android 15’s first developer preview is here
Buckle up and plug in your phone to your computer to get it
Google has just announced Android 15’s first developer preview, giving us an official look at its next big mobile OS release. As always, this early version is meant for developers who want to get their apps ready and familiarize themselves with new APIs. Thus, the release will likely not have all new user-facing features enabled out of the box. Google still told us quite a bit about what to expect, and there are a few things we’ve learned about it thanks to leaks.
Google One may soon include Nest Aware
Meanwhile, Nest Aware is getting more expensive internationally
Google One was initially mostly a way to get more storage across Google services, but the company has slowly but surely built its subscription out to include more features. It now offers a VPN, Google Photos editing tools, rebates on hardware products, and, most recently, access to Gemini Advanced. It looks like Google is on track to add Nest Aware to its one subscription to rule them all.
What’s new in Chrome 122: Read Aloud and Help Me Write
Chrome is in for some quality of life improvements in its latest version
Google's incredibly fast browser release cadence continues with Chrome 122, which is currently slowly rolling out as a stable release to all supported platforms. After Google announced a few new AI features with Chrome 121, the new Chrome release is concerned with tying some loose ends on that front. There are also further improvements to cross-platform syncing. Read on to learn everything you need to know.