Welcome to episode 92 of Pixelated, a podcast by 9to5Google. This week, Damien and Will break down all of the changes coming to Google Maps, including a fresh 3D look and a Gemini-powered Ask Maps tool. They also break down recent reports that Motorola dominates 50% of the North American foldables market, asking what the brand can do to stay on top, before wrapping up with some kernel changes coming to Android that should make your current phone just a little more efficient.
Sponsored by Proton Unlimited: Pixelated listeners can save 30% on an annual subscription by signing up for Proton Unlimited using this link. Thanks to Proton Unlimited for sponsoring this week’s episode.
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Your Friday lineup of the best Android game and app deals is now ready to roll, including titles like Old Man’s Journey, RPG Rusted Emeth, Avalar: Shadow War Premium, Burning Sky VIP, Undead City: Survivor Premium, AVARIS3, Townopolis, Survival Island: Ark Craft pro, and more. We also have official Pixel Watch Gradient Stretch Band starting at $11, unlocked Pixel 10 Pro XL units now up to $380 off, and ongoing Amazon all-time lows on Pixel Watch 4. As for the apps, everything awaits below. everything awaits below.
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Nothing has announced a pretty major update to its Essential Space app, delivering not only a cleaner UI, but also new features, including event detection and search.
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One of the long-running best perks of Amazon Prime was access to the Prime Video library which, for years, was ad-free. That changed a few years ago, with ad-free viewing now a paid monthly add-on, and now even that is getting a price hike.
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Meta has confirmed that, soon, it will remove support for end-to-end encryption for Instagram DMs.
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For over five years now, Pixel users have had a powerful tool built into their Recents menu: the ability to select text and images for quick copying, sharing, and more. With Android 16 QPR3, however, the images side of things is getting a pretty massive downgrade, and it’s not exactly clear as to why.
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Android is in a strange place at the moment; it’s arguably stronger than ever, but feels further away from the platform that launched almost 20 years ago. What changed?
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Today’s 9to5Toys Lunch Break is headlined by unlocked Pixel 10 Pro XL units at up to $380 off (Best Buy open-box, or $250 off new), as well as a chance to Pixel Buds Pro 2 at up to $111 off. We also have ASUS’ AMD-powered ultra-thin Vivobook 14 Copilot+ PC back to its lowest price at $200 off alongside LG’s regularly $3,000 77-inch B5 OLED TV at $1,400 with up to $50 bonus rewards for Best Buy members. Head below for a closer look.
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Samsung has, for the past five years, been releasing essentially the same phone over and over again: a big screen, the latest Snapdragon chip, an S Pen, a 5,000 mAh battery, and the company’s best* camera setup. It’s undoubtedly attractive, and the formula clearly works. After two weeks with the Galaxy S26 Ultra, as much as I might want something more, I also can’t help but really like this phone.
But if the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, it’s time for the madness to end.
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For all of the praise heaped onto Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 7 last summer, its clamshell sibling felt a little bit like an afterthought. The company did make some meaningful changes to its hardware, slimming the chassis down by over a millimeter while adding in a larger battery and expanding its cover display to fill the entire panel. While plenty of us have held out hope that this year’s Flip 8 would see the sort of transformation Samsung delivered to its book-style foldable, it’s not sounding too promising so far.
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Last month, HDR content on Disney+ was seemingly going away, but the issue has been resolved and Dolby Vision and other formats are being restored.
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Google is rolling out the first update to Pixel Camera of 2026, though version 10.3 is a minor release.
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The latest Gemini overlay redesign gives you access to more of the prompt box and Tools menu anywhere on Android.
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Your Thursday afternoon lineup of the best Android game and app deals has arrived, including titles like Subnautica, Cyberlords – Arcology, Front Armies [RTS], Dungeon of the Endless: Apogee, Earthlings Beware!, SpongeBob SquarePants BfBB, and more. Just be sure to check out these unlocked Pixel 10 Pro models at up to $352 off today and the ongoing Amazon all-time pricing on Pixel Watch 4 models. The apps await below.
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Following Mac and Windows versions, Google Chrome will soon support ARM64 Linux devices.
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Gemini has a new trick up its sleeve with agentic task automation, with the AI able to use an app on your behalf to perform certain tasks, and it’s now live on the Galaxy S26 series.
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Samsung has released a new magnetic Qi2 power bank for its Galaxy S26 series, but as per usual, you need a case to use it.
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GFiber (previously known as Google Fiber) has entered into an agreement with Stonepeak to combine the company with Astound Broadband into a single cohesive internet provider.
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Claude is expanding on one of its coding tools to bring immersive visuals like charts and graphs to chats, all built in the moment to present responses to complex questions.
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As mentioned in the “What’s new in Google Home” changelog earlier this month, the Nest Wifi Pro is getting a March 2026 update.
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Today’s 9to5Toys Lunch Break is headlined by a chance to score unlocked Pixel 10 Pro models at up to $352 off today (Best Buy open-box or $200 off new) alongside a solid price drop on Google TV Streamer 4K – now back to one of its best prices at within $5 of the Black Friday low. We also have a chance to get the $1,000 ultrawide Samsung Odyssey monitor vibes for nearly half price today with this 49-inch 5K2K curved display at $540, ongoing Amazon lows on Pixel Watch 4 models, and more. Check it all out below.
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As the smartphone market’s immediate future continues to look quite bleak, Samsung’s mobile division could apparently be facing its first-ever operating loss.
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As Fitbit continues to preview its personal health coach, the redesigned app is getting interface tweaks that swap out a key Material 3 Expressive component.
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As short-form vertical video continues to dominate the internet, Disney+ is now adding its own take on the trend with the addition of “Verts,” and there’s more in the pipeline.
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