Ben Schoon

Google is currently in the process of rolling out some major updates to Gmail’s web client on desktop devices, and it seems another feature is coming. We’ve observed Gmail offering an option to pause notifications on your smartphone if you’re actively using the desktop client.

It was a quiet week for Stadia with just one new game released, but there’s some fun in the pipeline with April’s Stadia Pro lineup having been revealed and Far Cry 6 offering up a free-to-play weekend.

We’re all encouraged to keep our hands off of our phones while driving, but as our media shifts from the radio to streaming apps, that becomes just a bit harder. Over the past few weeks, I’ve been using Spotify Car Thing to control music on my drives, and while it’s a device full of great ideas, I can’t help but feel it’s somewhat redundant at this point.

Samsung is by far the biggest player in the foldable smartphone market today, and as such it’s usually safe to assume that if someone is praising the innovative technology, they’re referring to one of Samsung’s devices. Somewhat hilariously, though, Samsung got caught praising the Galaxy Z Fold 3’s biggest competitor, the Oppo Find N, on Twitter.

Android 12 is one of the platform’s most meaningful updates for the big screen in a while, but despite its early start, it hasn’t shown up on any devices. In a new blog post published this week, Google has confirmed that Android TV 12 will be available on devices this year.

Update: Google has updated the blog post to say that Android TV 12 won’t debut until “later” this year, retracting the earlier mention of “early.”

Samsung has doubled down on foldables over the past couple of years, and it seems the next generation will take a step even past Samsung’s current Galaxy S22 series. The latest rumors claim that Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Flip 4 will use a new “Plus” variant of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, and they’ll also be joined by a brand-new form factor.

Under Oppo’s roof, the OnePlus launched its 2022 flagship in China all the way back in January without any mention of when it would come to other markets. Soon, that’s changing. The OnePlus 10 Pro will be officially announced for other regions, including the US and Europe, on March 31.

This week, Google announced another step towards the end of Play Movies & TV as it continues to push towards Google TV instead. It’s the right call, but with a headache attached for many customers.

According to a new report, the most popular smartphone in the world for the year of 2021 wasn’t an iPhone, or a high-end Android phone, but rather Samsung’s affordable Galaxy A12.

Home security is important in today’s day and age, but it’s something that’s unfortunately not easy in Google’s ecosystem. While Nest cameras go a long way in protecting your home, Google pulled the plug on its only true security system, Nest Secure, in late 2020 with no replacement. Lately, I’ve been spending time with a SimpliSafe Google Assistant-compatible home security system, and it certainly goes above and beyond filling that need.

Chromebooks have always been thought of as cheap laptops running a glorified web browser instead of an operating system, but times have certainly changed. Today, you can buy powerful Chromebooks and use them to run local Android and Linux apps and, now, that’s extending to games. Google has officially released Steam for Chrome OS, at least in its alpha state, and we’ve been able to take a first look at it in action.

Android 13’s second developer preview adds a handful of new Material You styles, but they’re not very easy to access at this point. Barely a week later, though, the fun app Repainter has added support for Android 13’s new Material You styles.