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
The taskbar is one of the biggest new features added to Android for foldables and tablets, and in the first developer preview of Android 14, Google is tweaking it with names showing on app icons.
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Right on schedule, Google has just released the very first developer preview of Android 14 for Pixel smartphones. Here’s how to install it – if you dare.
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AI is set to change the game in some big ways in the near future, and AI-generated content is one of the more controversial elements. Now, Google is broaching the subject, confirming explicitly that AI-generated content isn’t against Search guidelines.
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Samsung has enjoyed four years of minimal competition in the foldable space, but that’s set to change in a major way this year. OnePlus is bringing the fight straight to Samsung, with the brand teasing its first foldables to debut in Q3 2023.
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The Galaxy S23 series formally releases next week, and pre-orders are available now with some nice perks, especially through carriers. But some T-Mobile customers have run into issues with a Galaxy S23 pre-order, seeing their cell service unexpectedly moving to the unshipped smartphone.
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Android Auto is still in the process of rolling out its big dashboard redesign known as “Coolwalk,” but as that update slowly makes it way to users, Google is already making tweaks including updated animations and the potential of a light theme.
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Did you know Google Chrome had a screenshot editor? While the tool was never formally launched, it was developed in the background for quite a while, until recently when Google pulled the plug on it entirely.
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Rolling out as a part of the latest update, the Google Tasks app for Android is getting Material You theming in an overdue update.
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Over the past few months, ChatGPT has changed the game in many ways, and the next step is with AI-powered chatbot experiences for search. However, those experiences are only as good as the information feeding them, so it’s time for Google to really put the hammer down on “SEO spam.”
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Google Stadia shut down last month after merely three years of availability, and following its closure, the CEO of TakeTwo commented on Stadia’s business model as part of the reason it shut down while also questioning the validity of cloud gaming’s future to some extent.
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YouTube landed a huge deal at the end of 2022, with NFL Sunday Ticket set to depart DirecTV and instead move to YouTube and YouTube TV. As that debut approaches, Google continues to spill more details, with a recent earnings call confirming a few new features for NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube.
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As Google TV continues to take over for Android TV, OnePlus has now adopted the latest experience on its brand new OnePlus TV 65 Q2 Pro.
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Gamers using the Galaxy S23 series are in for a bit of a treat, as a new feature on Samsung’s latest flagships allows for savings on heat by allowing a charger to supply power directly to the phone, rather than charging the battery.
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In an effort to “streamline” its portfolio of smartphones, the “OnePlus 11 Pro” won’t be coming.
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While the latest redesign of Android Auto makes it a bit more difficult to see the weather forecast at a glance, there is a new option incoming. “WeatherRadar” is debuting as the first full weather app for Android Auto.
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After launching last year, Google Pay is making its first expansion with virtual cards as American Express cardholders can now use the feature on Chrome and Android.
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Google has announced today that, in the “coming months,” it will start to blur explicit images in Search with a new default setting.
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It’s been abundantly clear over the past few years that OnePlus has been slowly pulling its focus away from the US market, and this year another nail is going into that coffin as OnePlus 11 won’t be sold at the brand’s only remaining carrier partner, T-Mobile.
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In a case of deja vu, OnePlus has opted to remove wireless charging from the OnePlus 11, with the explanation that charging is fast enough to the point where you don’t need it.
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While Android 13 made its debut on smartphones and tablets back in August of 2022, Google has been slow to bring the finalized update to the TV. Now, Android TV 13 is finally, actually here, but still in a limited capacity.
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Following a widespread outage yesterday that lasted a few hours, the Fitbit app is once again experiencing issues this morning, with a partial outage affecting sync.
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After launching in China earlier this year, the OnePlus 11 is making its global debut later today. But ahead of that, one last leak offers up one of the only things we didn’t know – the OnePlus 11’s price.
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Microsoft has announced a February 7 event where it will unveil “progress on a few exciting projects,” with Bing’s ChatGPT infusion expected to be among the updates shared.
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The Galaxy S23 Ultra is Samsung’s first flagship with a 200MP camera, and to show off what it’s capable of, the brand teamed up with director Ridley Scott to produce a short film.
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