The name Google is synonymous with online searches, but over the years the company has grown beyond search and now builds multiple consumer products, including software like Gmail, Chrome, Maps, Android, and hardware like the Pixel smartphones, Google Home, and Chromebooks. Its name can also be found on internet services such as Google Fi, Flights, Checkout, and Google Fiber. Here is all of the latest news about one of the most influential tech companies in the world.
This recent video from YouTuber Chuppl highlights a 2023 pre-print estimating people have wasted as many as 819 million hours solving reCAPTCHA since Google acquired it in 2009, as spotted earlier by Boing Boing. Dr. Andrew Searles, the researcher who submitted the study, told Chuppl that Google collects a trove of data through reCAPTCHA, including keystrokes, clicks, IP addresses, and more.
0Oppo hasn’t exactly kept its new foldable a secret, but the leaker has done one better, sharing renders in three colors and a variety of angles. It’s our best look yet at the Hasselblad rear camera, rumored to include three 50 megapixel shooters.
The Find N5 is reportedly the world’s thinnest foldable, and has a remarkably subtle display crease. It launches globally this month, and may reach the US as the OnePlus Open 2.
Oppo can’t stop teasing its Find N5 foldable. Chief product officer Pete Lau took to X to show off the phone’s almost invisible display crease — especially compared with Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 6 beside it — and demonstrate its water-resistance.
The Find N5 is apparently the thinnest foldable phone yet, barely thicker than its USB-C port. It launches globally in two weeks’ time, and we hope eventually reaches the US under the OnePlus banner.
Along with an image teasing a new button on the side of (presumably) the Phone 3A, Nothing cryptically posted, “Your second memory, one click away.”
What is the button for? 9to5Google’s suspicion of a dedicated camera button makes sense, but so does a key for summoning an AI assistant or even a Nothing take on the iPhone Action Button. We’ll find out soon enough; the phone launches March 4th.
Powered by ultra-wideband, the next generation of smart locks will turn your phone into a key — that you never have to use.
According to Android Police, T-Mobile has added Google’s latest phones to its beta test of direct-to-cell satellite service powered by SpaceX’s Starlink. iPhones and a select few Samsung phones were already in the beta.
The Pixel 9 series also has Google’s own Satellite SOS, which is only designed for emergency messaging. T-Mobile’s beta adds full SMS support, with voice and data planned in the future — while Europe might get full satellite broadband this year.
[androidpolice.com]
Google’s cheaper Pixel A-series phones usually launch in the summer, but the 9A might come early. Android Headlines reports that Google will open preorders on March 19th, with shipping a week later. Previous leaks reported that the phone will once again start at $499, but may break from recent Pixel design philosophy by ditching the camera bar.
[androidheadlines.com]
A teaser hints that we can expect the 3A series to have Nothing’s first triple-camera along with updated Glyph lighting when it launches on March 4th. Last year’s affordable 2A and 2A Plus never officially released in the US, and we don’t yet know if the 3A will change that. It’s separate from the regular Phone 3, which CEO Carl Pei promised would be “flagship” when it arrives.
The new version of Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp -- free of in-app purchases -- debuted last December at $9.99 for a limited time.
For those who have been dragging their feet on buying the new Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp Complete for either iOS or Android, that limited time offer runs out before the end of this week. At 1AM ET on January 31st, the game will increase in price to $19.99.
Today marks the start of the Lunar New Year, and Google Search has a new serpentine Doodle to mark the occasion. It looks cute, but click through for a bonus playable game of... well, you can probably guess.
