The Latest from Gadget Hacks: Page 19

Roku's market position has a way of making the platform look more capable than it is. Across U.S. broadband households, Roku OS accounts for 28% of connected TV platform usage, ahead of Samsung Tizen at 23%, with Amazon Fire TV, LG webOS, and Vizio SmartCast trailing at a distance, according to Parks Associates research.

A dataset collected from 147 Deaf signers using smartphone cameras has produced the largest ASL fingerspelling recognition dataset ever assembled, and the results carry real implications for what Gboard sign language recognition could eventually look like. No such feature has been announced. Nothing in the available evidence connects the research to a Google product plan.

Google this week launched Video Remix, an AI tool powered by Gemini Omni that transforms existing footage into polished clips within seconds, available exclusively to paying subscribers. The launch is the most visible sign yet of where Google Photos is headed.

A documented bug in the Google TV Streamer causes the device to pair itself to a different remote than the one it shipped with, leaving the original unresponsive for no obvious reason. Google acknowledged this specific failure and committed to a software fix, per Android Police. That acknowledgment is now more than a year old, and no public confirmation of a shipped fix has appeared.

Google removed a long-standing exemption from its cloud storage rules this week. Starting July 7, Android backups count toward Google Account storage: SMS messages, call history, and device settings now draw from the same shared quota as Gmail, Drive, Google Photos, and WhatsApp backups.

Spotify is rolling out new listening filters for Release Radar, the weekly discovery playlist that reaches nearly 9 million listeners every Friday. The controls let users steer their recommendations by genre or toward unfamiliar artists, giving them a new way to influence a playlist that has largely been algorithm-controlled.

Starting July 22, US Android users will be able to download rival app stores directly from Google Play. Not because Google chose to allow it, but because a court ordered it, Google ran out of ways to delay, and the settlement that would have softened the requirement collapsed this week. Google Play handled 95% of US Android app downloads as of 2020, according to the Ninth Circuit. Putting third-party app stores on Google Play's own shelves is not a symbolic gesture. It's the first time any...

Samsung is reportedly considering cutting its free double-storage pre-order benefit by half for the upcoming Galaxy Z Fold8, Z Fold8 Ultra, and Z Flip8, according to industry sources cited by Chosun. Buyers who would previously have received the 512GB model at no extra cost when ordering the 256GB variant will now pay roughly half the normal storage premium. If confirmed, it would mark a broader reduction than Samsung's recent region-specific changes to the promotion.

Google has been replacing Google Assistant with Gemini in Android Auto, with the rollout expanding to 45 languages globally, per Google's announcement. If your phone already runs the Gemini app, you likely have access or will soon. The change matters more than a typical assistant update: Assistant frequently failed to register voice input at all, something a Tom's Guide tester called a near-daily occurrence. Gemini also removes the rigid syntax problem, so you can speak naturally and hold a...

Samsung's rumored open-ear earbuds won't be sharing a stage with the Galaxy Z Fold and Galaxy Watch 9. ETNews, citing industry sources, reports that the Samsung Galaxy Buds Able launch timeline has shifted to Q4 2026, with October the most probable window, as the company continues to fine-tune the product, per Android Headlines. That rules out Galaxy Unpacked, which had looked like a plausible debut just weeks ago. Samsung has not publicly confirmed any of this.

Google Pixel gaming performance issues reported after last month's Android 17 update remain unresolved across multiple device generations, with neither the July security patch nor a follow-up Google Play System update this week resolving the complaints for affected users, Android Authority reported. Pixel 8, Pixel 9, Pixel 10 Pro, and Pixel 10 Pro XL owners are all among those affected. Google has not publicly acknowledged the problem or explained its cause.

Google launched Magic Cue as a headline feature of the Pixel 10 last August, describing it as "proactive support, tightly woven across your phone," per the launch announcement. Two months ago, the company introduced Gemini Intelligence as its new label for proactive AI across Android devices, using language that maps closely onto what Magic Cue already does. Google has not announced a rename. But taken together, the product descriptions, the rollout roadmap, and Google's track record with AI...

Unicode 17.0 is finalized, and the eight new emoji coming in Unicode 17.0 are locked in. Samsung has already shipped all of them to millions of devices. Pixel users are still waiting, and when Google's update does arrive, it won't just add eight new characters it's expected to rebuild how every emoji on the device looks. That second part hasn't been confirmed as a single bundled update, and that distinction matters.

Run powercfg /hibernate on in an elevated terminal, then go to Control Panel and check the Hibernate box under power button settings. That's it. Many guides stop after the command or the Control Panel step this one covers both, in order, with the gotchas called out where they matter.

Samsung confirmed its Intelligent Eyewear will last up to nine hours on a single charge, with a charging case that provides up to seven additional full charges, Samsung Newsroom announced.

You cannot add an external user to a Google Chat group message. That limit is unchanged. According to Google documentation cited for this article, Google has made generally available: guest accounts that bring non-Google users into Chat spaces, shared Drive files, and Meet calls, all inside your organization's security perimeter and without a full Workspace license.

Samsung is reportedly drawing a hard line through the Galaxy S27 lineup, and the selfie camera is where that line lands. According to the latest leaks, the Galaxy S27 Pro and Galaxy S27 Ultra will be the first Samsung flagships in three generations to receive a new front-facing sensor, while the base Galaxy S27 and Galaxy S27 Plus will reportedly stay on the same hardware they've shipped since 2023. The Galaxy S27 selfie camera upgrade exists. Most Galaxy S27 buyers reportedly won't get it,...

Six Pixel 11 model numbers have appeared in FCC certification records, confirming MediaTek modem hardware across the lineup and ending the Pixel line's reliance on Samsung modems since the Tensor-powered Pixel 6 generation.

The most reliable signal that Samsung is working on a new SmartTag isn't a leaked spec sheet it's a pattern. Before Samsung announced the SmartTag2, the device appeared first in the Bluetooth SIG database, then in an FCC filing, per The Verge's July 2023 coverage. Neither filing appeared for a successor in the sources reviewed for this article. When one does surface, the hardware specs will be the least interesting thing in it. The field that actually matters is the app requirement buried in...

The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra has already launched. The Pixel 11 Pro XL is still months away, known mostly through leaks, CAD renders, and a Telegram channel. That asymmetry matters before anything else: comparing the Google Pixel 11 Pro XL vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra isn't a traditional head-to-head so much as a weighing of a known quantity against an ambitious pre-launch signal.

The confirmation is official: eligible existing OnePlus phones will be offered an optional upgrade from OxygenOS to ColorOS 17, with Android Authority reporting that the transition is expected after the official release of ColorOS 17, though OnePlus has not announced a rollout date. Whether that lands as a minor footnote or something more significant depends entirely on why you bought a OnePlus phone in the first place.

A Bigme HiBreak Dual 2 competitor arrived within days of Bigme's Kickstarter launch: a new Hisense e-paper phone with a detachable color LCD. Hisense had recently debuted its own E Ink phone with a fundamentally different design choice: its secondary color LCD detaches magnetically. That single difference defines the central question worth asking right now: should an E Ink display be a permanent part of a phone, or something users can choose when they want it?

A new Google Pixel Watch 5 leak gives the clearest look yet at the smartwatch's four reported finishes, two sizes, and a pricing structure that would mark the first series-wide increase in Pixel Watch history. The renders, attributed to leaker OnLeaks via The Tide Chart and reported this week by multiple outlets, show four reported finishes across the lineup's 41mm and 45mm sizes.

Google confirmed this week it is pushing a patch for the Android Auto 17.2 crash fix that users have been waiting on since early July. The fix covers both the stable and beta channels, and the company has published exact build numbers so users can confirm whether their device is protected. The update is in staged rollout now, per Android Authority and Android Headlines.

Samsung announced yesterday that Amazon Music will come preinstalled on millions of "select" Galaxy phones and tablets globally. New Amazon Music Unlimited subscribers, whether they have the app preinstalled or download it from the Galaxy Store, get a three-month free trial that auto-renews at $12.99 a month, or $11.99 for Prime members, unless canceled before the renewal date, per Digital Music News. What Samsung has not disclosed is which devices will ship with the app preloaded, what it...

WhatsApp has started rolling out its Liquid Glass redesign to the Mac app, making Mac the last major Apple platform to receive the update. The translucent visual overhaul is the obvious draw, but the changes with the most practical effect on daily use are structural: a privacy gap that left sensitive chats exposed on shared Macs is being closed, and navigation that required too much guesswork has been rebuilt from scratch.

One day before Galaxy Unpacked, the picture is about as clear as pre-announcement pictures get. Leaked marketing materials distributed by Evan Blass show the Galaxy Z Fold 8 images in full: a visibly shorter, squatter device that matches the 4:3 "wide Fold" form factor corroborated independently across multiple outlets this week. These images aren't notable because they're polished renders. They're notable because they confirm the shape, and taken together with supply-chain data, the shape...

Samsung is set to reveal the Galaxy Z Fold 8, Fold 8 Ultra, and Flip 8 at Galaxy Unpacked in London on July 22. Reporting from multiple outlets points consistently toward a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 price increase across at least some models, with the clearest jumps in the US Fold Ultra, Korean Flip 8 pricing, and high-capacity European tiers. The more complicated part: even where base MSRP appears flat, the effective launch-day cost could still be worse than last year if Samsung reduces the...

Samsung has confirmed the cause of the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra red screen problem that has been troubling owners since the phone launched earlier this year. The display discoloration is a software optimization failure, not a hardware defect, and affected owners can already get a fix at Samsung service centers while a broader over-the-air update is being prepared, Samsung confirmed Thursday, July 16, according to Chosun and subsequent reports.

Samsung introduced the Galaxy Z Flip8, Galaxy Z Fold8, and Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra on July 22, 2026, with larger batteries, thinner designs, and lower weights across parts of the lineup. The company's official Galaxy Z specifications list a 5,000mAh battery for the Fold8 Ultra, 4,800mAh for the Fold8, and 4,300mAh for the Flip8.

This guide covers whether turning off Google Play Protect is the right call for your situation, how to do it if it is, and the specific steps to take immediately after. Skipping that last part is where most people get into trouble.

Code changes found in Apple's Wallet backend suggest that Apple Car Key support for GWM Tank vehicles may be in development, MacRumors reported last week. None of Great Wall Motor's four current Tank models, the 300, 400, 500, or 700, support the feature today, MacObserver reported last week.

Strings pulled from Samsung firmware describe a dedicated settings page called "App screen zoom" that would let Galaxy users assign a different zoom level to individual apps, Android Authority reported today. The key detail in those strings: custom per-app settings would persist independently, so changing the system-wide zoom later wouldn't affect any app a user had already configured.

The Galaxy Z Fold7's preorder window closed July 24, 2025, the day before the phone launched. For buyers without a device to trade in, the Amazon Galaxy Z Fold7 preorder deal stood apart from the competition not because it carried the highest nominal credit value.

Apple Car Key stores a credential in your Wallet app and uses it to lock, unlock, and start a compatible vehicle no separate app, no cellular connection required. Setting up a car key on iPhone takes about five minutes once you know you're eligible. The part that trips people up is figuring out whether they actually are.

An unreleased build of Google Calendar for Android shows a new chip that would let Workspace users create Google Calendar focus time on Android directly, without touching a desktop browser. Android Authority spotted the "Focus time" entry point in version 2026.27.0-946652271-release today, sitting above the floating action button used to add calendar entries. The feature is not active, and Google has not announced a rollout date.

Most people assume they check their phones often. What they almost never do is measure it. When researchers have tracked actual pickup behavior, the numbers consistently exceed self-reported estimates by a significant margin. A 2016 analysis cited by Stanford's Change Lab put average daily phone interactions at roughly 2,617. The methodology behind that figure is imprecise what counts as an "interaction" varies considerably but it points at something real: for most people, phone use is not...

Reviewed by: Y. Garcia

Microsoft released the Windows 11 July preview update this week, pushing builds 26100.8968 and 26200.8968 to Windows Insiders in the Release Preview channel on versions 24H2 and 25H2 respectively. The update spans File Explorer, Search, Voice Access, Windows Hello, touchpads, battery settings, and the Start menu, according to PCWorld.

No research data was available to verify pricing, software commitments, battery results, or cover screen specifications at the time of writing. What follows is a decision framework built around the criteria that actually separate these phones, in the order they matter. Treat it as the architecture for your own research before committing flagship money to either device.