Predicting the future is tough. It's easy to get caught up in new technology, particularly when it promises to address a common pain point, but sometimes the reality isn't quite so appealing. That's just what happened with a new concept car safety tech feature I tried all the way back in 2014, and which is now increasingly commonplace on production vehicles.
Netflix is already at the top of the line when we talk of streaming entertainment services across the globe. It enjoys a massive community of more than 200 million users, although it may seem a big number, Netflix has been underperforming by its own standards, in terms of new subscribers added to the platform during the last couple of years.
It's still a few months away, but rumors and leaks about the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 XL are starting to accumulate. The details we've heard and seen so far paint a picture of a unique phone, both inside and especially outside. It's definitely a head-turner, for better or worse, and something that Android users will probably be talking about for quite a while. And perhaps rightly so, because the Pixel 6, specifically Pixel 6 XL, could very well be the standard flagship smartphone that Android users deserve.
FCC filing for a number of smartphone models assigned to Google’s forthcoming mid-ranger have recently appeared. When an upcoming phone makes it through FCC certification, it becomes evident that its release date is just around the corner. Even though the database doesn’t divulge much in context to specs, it does suggest that the phone is Pixel 5a 5G and its launch is imminent.
The secret, super-rare star of Volvo's range, beloved by enthusiasts and more scarce on the streets than a supercar, is coming to an end. The Volvo V90 won't be making it to 2022, at least not in the US, and for wagon fans it's a reminder that tastes change and it can take more than just Swedish style to address that.
OnePlus seems to have an obsession with battery life and power efficiency. For the longest time, it held off implementing a rather common Always-on Display feature for those reasons and only moved the needle forward when its community voted for it. Even so, OnePlus has always cautioned users about the consequences of such features and gave them the freedom to do what they want at their own expense. With the latest drama surrounding the OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro, however, the company is making the exact same arguments, but this time isn't giving users the option to opt out of its throttling mechanism.
With Samsung's next Unpacked just a few weeks away, it's unsurprising to hear a lot of news about the upcoming next-gen foldable phones. It's easy enough to brush these off as fads since the first foldables were like fragile pieces of china, and almost all of them cost an arm even today. Most probably still can't think of a use for them, much less a justification for investing in one.
Foldable phones might never gain mass adoption the way regular smartphones have, though, but that's OK. They aren't really the be-all and end-all of smartphones but just the opening salvo to the next wave of computing.
Samsung's bold promise last year to provide three years of Android upgrades was warmly received. In contrast, OnePlus' revelation that its Nord series phones are only getting one year's worth was heavily criticized. Fragmentation has always been a problem on Android, but it was something only advanced users and developers used to worry about. These days, however, even regular consumers have become more discerning about what Android version their phones are running and when they will get the next update. As a result, manufacturers, especially the big ones, have to step up their Android upgrade game because of user demand and because it has never been more important to deliver the latest version of Android to everyone as soon as possible.
Elon Musk is a profound visionary of modern times and his vision to colonize Mars is the ultimate dream humankind has its eyes on. While setting foot on the red planet with SpaceX may happen sometime in the future, Elon has another ambition that’s agonizingly close to commercial viability.
You can count on your smart home setup but all the pomp and show falls flat when a doorbell isn’t on the same ecosystem as the lights and you need to employ different methods to control each of them. This scenario is subject to change with the introduction of Matter - a new smart home protocol that will let smart devices from different manufacturers work seamlessly together as if they were built in harmony under the same smart platform.
After much speculation and rumors all this year, Windows 11 operating system is now officially announced by Microsoft. The next refreshing OS is coming to machines this holiday season and the excitement is already on a high. A major part of the Windows 11 ecosystem is going to have presence of all supported Android apps, which comes as interesting news for users.
The smart homes and cities of the future are often painted as places full of transparent touch screens, voice-controlled assistants, and robots that can often predict what we need before we even ask. Unfortunately, what these advertisements and marketing materials don't always show is who is really in control of these future worlds.
Sure, most of these videos or images show regular people like you and me as the main actors, but it is really the companies that run the services and networks behind the scenes that are really in control, and it's going to take a long while before we can and should completely trust these systems with our safety and our lives.