Ben Schoon is a Senior Editor at 9to5Google, working for the publication as one of its primary news writers since 2016.
In 2013, Ben helped start an independent tech publication where he learned the skills used at 9to5Google including writing, product photography, and videography. He is located in the city of Winston-Salem in North Carolina where he lives with his wife Melissa. Ben is an avid disc golf player.
He primarily covers Android products, including Google Pixel devices, Samsung Galaxy smartphones, as well as devices from OnePlus, Oppo, Motorola, and more. Beyond just covering news about these products, Ben also spends time using these products himself, speaking from experience with the articles he writes. Some of Ben’s most recent hands-on reviews include; Pixel 8 Pro, Pixel Watch 2, Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5, Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, Motorola Razr+, HP Dragonfly Pro Chromebook, and more.
Ben is also a leading source for information about Google’s Android TV, diving deeply into important parts of the platform including its powerful Operator Tier, explaining future changes to the platform, and reviewing its products such as Chromecast with Google TV, Nvidia Shield TV, and more.
In 2019, Ben leaked one of the first in-person photos of the Pixel 4 before later revealing the Recorder and Pixel Themes apps months ahead of launch. In 2020, Ben also reported on multiple upcoming Pixel devices including Pixel 5a and the first report of Google working on a foldable Pixel smartphone. That same month, he was also the first to correctly report the $49 price point of what became the Chromecast with Google TV.
Ben Schoon is active on Twitter, @nexusben, but can also be found on Instagram and LinkedIn. For questions or tips, you can email him directly, and his portfolio is also available online.
Email: schoon@9to5mac.com | Encrypted Email: benschoon@protonmail.com
It’s been announced that Tile will be supporting a new satellite-based tracker network starting next year as it tries to beat existing phone-based networks, including Android’s new Find My Device network.
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The dream of using your smartphone to power an entire computing experience is very much alive and well and, according to a new report, Google has shown off that its possible to have a Pixel phone powering ChromeOS on an external monitor.
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AirTag-like trackers are finally coming to Android in the coming weeks and, ahead of that, Apple has finally implemented alerts for “unwanted trackers” in iOS 17.5.
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OpenAI today announced several big upgrades to ChatGPT and its GPT models, with some of the AI’s best features now available for free to all users and big upgrade that can use live video in your prompts.
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Google I/O 2024 kicks off in just over a day and, ahead of the event, Google has shown off a pretty impressive new conversational Gemini prototype in action which seems to use live video.
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Meta Quest 2 and Quest 3 headsets are picking up a useful new Travel Mode which makes the VR experience easier to use in moving vehicles including on an airplane.
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After announcing its 2024 lineup earlier this year, TCL is preparing to launch its new collection of Google TV sets with Mini-LED and more.
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The OnePlus Open is arguably the best foldable smartphone available today and, while there’s not much we’d change, we’re certainly looking forward to its sequel. However, a “OnePlus Open 2” may end up being delayed to 2025 if some new rumors turn out to be true.
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Over the past couple of weeks that leaks have started rolling for Motorola’s next Razr, but today there’s a huge leak that reveals the pricing and specs of the Motorola Razr+ (2024) in the US.
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Google has been rolling out updates to Gemini very rapidly over the past few months, and it seems another big feature is on the horizon as “Memory” appears close to launch.
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Over the weekend the Northern Lights – aurora borealis – were visible from huge portions of the globe, including my own home in North Carolina. I never imagined I’d be able to capture photos of the Northern Lights from my own backyard, but an even better surprise were the time-lapses my Google Pixel 8 Pro captured.
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Google Search is effectively a bridge between users and content on the web nowadays, but volatility in Search has led to many smaller websites seeing steep dropoffs. As Google I/O approaches, will anything at the event provide a ray of hope?
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Apple is expected to be using a third party to power some upcoming AI features on the iPhone, with Google Gemini reportedly being a contender. But, apparently, that deal is still not closed, but one with OpenAI is nearly ready.
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Following a report that the company plans to launch a Google Search competitor next week, OpenAI has just confirmed a May 13 event for new “ChatGPT and GPT-4” updates.
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OpenAI’s impressive video AI, Sora, caught the world by storm earlier this year, but the company still won’t admit whether or not videos from YouTube were used to train the AI model.
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The cellular market in the US may be shrinking again, as Verizon and T-Mobile are reportedly aiming to buy out US Cellular.
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It’s no secret that Walmart is launching a new Google TV streaming box, but the company has now, finally, confirmed its launch plans for the Onn Pro.
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Google Maps is picking up a couple of useful new tricks, at least on Android, that make it easier to find EV charging stations as well as seeing the entirety of a road.
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Samsung’s Galaxy AI features are coming to the Galaxy S21 series and other 2021 devices after all, but not in any of the ways we previously expected.
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After launching in Korea recently, Samsung has officially announced that its AI-adding One UI 6.1 update is now available to Galaxy S22, Fold 4, and Flip 4 devices in the US and around the globe.
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Microsoft has officially confirmed that the company is launching its Xbox mobile game store on Android and iOS in July, and it will be bringing Candy Crush, Minecraft, and more along with it.
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It’s been clear for some time now that OpenAI is planning to launch a search engine enhanced by AI and, according to a new report, the company plans to do that by attempting to upstage Google I/O 2024.
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Google’s Pixel business is finally seeing some real success, but that might be bad news for Sony, as the company’s Xperia smartphone business is actively shrinking as a result.
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The Rabbit R1 is a cute little AI device that, by all accounts, seems to be really bad at everything it tries to do. Now, someone has figured out how to run full Android on the Rabbit R1 using the popular LineageOS ROM.
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