Will Sattelberg

Qualcomm’s taking Mobile World Congress by storm, with a collection of networking-centric announcements set to lay the groundwork for the next decade of connectivity.

Welcome to episode 90 of Pixelated, a podcast by 9to5Google. This week, Abner, Damien, and Will talk through the launch of the Galaxy S26 series, all of its various Pixel-inspired AI tools, and ask whether it’s too boring of an upgrade for Samsung. They also discuss Google’s newly-announced agentic features for Android, with support for ordering groceries, deliveries, and more, ahead of next month’s release.

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Samsung’s Galaxy S26 trio is finally here, and as usual, the pre-order period is typically where you’re going to find the best deals for at least the next few months. If you haven’t completed checkout, though, you can save an additional $50 off your order in addition to trade-in values, student discounts, and more.

Android 17 Beta 2 fell into our laps today, and unlike Google’s first build, this one is chock full of new features, including an all-new windowing mode that takes bubbles to the next level.

We’re only about four months into an ongoing memory crisis across the globe, but we’re already seeing some massive consequences spawning from this AI-driven demand. As expected, those very same consequences are coming for the smartphone market, with one firm expecting 160 million fewer sales compared to 2025.

t’s now been over half a decade since Samsung folded its Galaxy Note lineup into the mainline Galaxy S-series, but fans of the original “phablet” aren’t ones to let go so easily. If you’re still holding onto your Galaxy Note 20 Ultra — a device first released in August of 2020, believe it or not — Samsung is willing to give you a pretty sweet deal to part ways with it.

The Galaxy S26 trio is finally here, and with it comes One UI 8.5. Samsung might be waiting until the summer to roll out its next big shake-up for its version of Android, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t seeing some new visual elements in this mid-cycle release. As we’ve come to expect, at least one element on the S26’s software is ripped right from Samsung’s closest rival.

The Galaxy S26 lineup is a pretty familiar upgrade, which means Samsung is once again calling on its AI platform to make these devices stand out from the pack. This year’s big difference is an actual vision for what Galaxy AI should be aiming to accomplish — though whether that holds up in practice remains to be seen.

After weathering a barrage of leaks, RAM shortages, and an abandoned overhaul, Samsung is finally ready to unveil the Galaxy S26 series. As we expected, this is a boring upgrade even by Samsung’s own standards, and combined with higher prices on two of the S26 models, some fans might be left waiting for something a little more exciting down the road.

YouTube has spent the bulk of its existence fighting against unsanctioned download sites and ad-blockers, but the past few years have seen Google really ramp up its war. Ad-blocking users have been treated to missing comments and video descriptions, error messages, missing view counts, increased buffering, loading failures, and much, much more. I get it — no one likes ads, and YouTube’s ads in particular have gone from 5-second pre-rolls and mid-video breaks to something far more in line with traditional streaming services. Modern YouTube ads often feel like they’re overwhelming the video that surrounds them.

A password manager is all but necessary these days, even as passkeys continue to gain traction. But if you’re a 1Password fan, you better prepare to have to spend a little more on your annual charges beginning next month — even if you’re on a family plan.

Discord has spent the last couple of weeks in the crosshairs of the internet, as its decision to launch an ID-based age verification program proved even more controversial than most of us likely expected. In a lengthy blog post, Discord says it’s postponing a global rollout for this initiative while it works to improve both transparency with its users and verification options, though it’s unclear if that’s enough for its frustrated user base.

While Samsung’s drawn in plenty of foldable attention lately for its TriFold and whatever it ends up calling its heavily-rumored “wide” device, it’s not the only manufacturer looking to up its folding phone game. Oppo’s ready to unveil its Find N6 in China in the coming weeks, and our first teaser points to a pretty big — if expected — display upgrade.

Samsung’s foldables — and, really, foldables in general — have come a long way since their first couple of generations, and nowhere is that clearer than in the durability realm. This summer’s upcoming Galaxy Z-series, including that newly-added “Wide Fold,” might come with a new software trick that helps keep that inner display from potential debris.

Welcome to The Sideload episode 23, a 9to5Google podcast. This week, Will welcomes Brady Snyder onto the show for a double-header conversation. First, Brady and Will discuss the state of streaming media, starting with YouTube TV’s recently-launched channel packages before expanding to price hikes, hoop-jumping, and the return of physical media. Then the two turn their attention to Apple Music, a service both use despite their love of Android. What is it that keeps them on a rival’s platform, and is Apple’s Android app good enough to get other users to switch?

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Samsung’s next Unpacked is set to kick off this Wednesday, and in addition to a very familiar Galaxy S26 lineup, we’re expecting two new earbud pairs perfect for pairing with your new phone. The Galaxy Buds 4 series might shy away from its predecessors’ AirPods comparisons, but that doesn’t mean Samsung isn’t following Apple’s lead on at least one upcoming feature.

The Galaxy S22 is celebrating its fourth anniversary this week, but if you’ve been rocking with Samsung’s 2022 flagships since launch, this milestone probably hasn’t been going well for you.

Android might not be an official mobile branch to any desktop operating system — not yet, at least — but the past decade or so has seen plenty of first and third-party integrations with Windows. WhatsApp users might be next in line for a big desktop upgrade, as it could be the next service to see native support for Microsoft’s “Cross-Device Resume” feature.

Welcome to episode 89 of Pixelated, a podcast by 9to5Google. This week, Abner, Will, and Ben talk all about the Pixel 10a, a device where the ‘a’ seems to stand for ‘again.’ Without much in the way of new features, the trio dive into all of the nuances that make the Pixel 10a stand out from its predecessor, before asking the obvious: is it time for smartphone makers to take longer generational breaks? Plus: We know when Google I/O is happening, and we talk all through how we’ll be controlling our Android-powered glasses.

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Take a peek in Android’s settings menu, and no matter what smartphone you have, you’ll probably find Google’s Digital Wellbeing suite hanging around. At first glance, Digital Wellbeing is perfectly modern, sporting an updated Material 3-friendly design and a whole slate of features like app timers, Bedtime mode, and more. It even has its own space within the settings menu on Pixel, rather than being buried within sub-menus like other useful tools.

Google initially debuted its Titan M security chip back in 2018 with the Pixel 3 before following it up with Titan M2 in its first-gen Tensor launch. Now, as we approach the tenth anniversary of Pixel and the five-year anniversary of that step into custom silicon, Google is rumored to be working on yet another step forward for its security coprocessor.