This week the folks at YouTube revealed a new way to work with videos for kids and young adults. YouTube's latest feature was made as "a new choice for parents who have decided their tweens and teens are ready to explore YouTube with a supervised account." This feature will be launched first with a BETA mode, with a larger launch later this year.
If you were waiting for the Nothing technology company to team up with an interesting partner, wait no more. Today the Nothing company announced that they'd officially added Teenage Engineering to their list of Founding Partners. This is going to get weirder before it heads down the beaten path, of that you can be sure.
Given its track record, there have been some worries that Samsung will abandon its special DeX feature sooner or later. That may still happen but, at least for now, it seems that Samsung will be sticking to its guns, especially since it has become one of the exclusive perks when pairing Galaxy phones with Windows PCs. DeX's longevity, however, depends on the number of users it has which, in turn, depends on the number of devices it supports. Fortunately, Samsung might be addressing the latter by bringing DeX's most recent feature to more of its phones, provided they're running the latest version of its One UI experience.
Most people are probably intrigued by foldable phones, even if they're not really sure they'll have any practical use for them. Even those that do think they can justify the expensive purchase might still be unsure whether reality will match expectations. To help people get used to the idea of foldable phones, Samsung is making a rather bold and brave proposition, giving buyers the option to return the Galaxy Z Fold 2 or Galaxy Z Flip 5G within three months if they change their minds.
There's a new sort of clock coming to Google Pixel devices, if what today's leak suggested is entirely accurate. Data arrived in the latest developer version of Android 12, or Android S, ready for Google Pixel devices right out the gate. It's possible this clock system won't be delivered to devices beyond the Google Pixel, but we shall see!
Android users are getting new messaging, Android Auto, and password management features, along with a new TalkBack screen reader version for the visually-impaired. Beginning to roll out from today, the new updates won't just be limited to Android 12 - which opened up for the developer preview last week - but will work with multiple generations of the OS from the past few years.
Google's fabled foldable might well be close at hand! Today's tip (or rumor) suggests Google tapped Samsung for a new foldable panel, quite possibly for a future foldable Pixel smartphone. This is not the first time we've heard word that Google would eventually make a Google Pixel smart device with a foldable display. It only makes sense, given the amount of work the company's put into developing Android with a set of features specifically aimed at foldable display functionality.
As convenient as wireless charging may be at times, their convenience ends the moment you lift the phone off its pad even by just a bit to use it. There have been multiple attempts in the past to solve that problem but now it seems that smartphone makers are making bold steps in that direction. Following Xiaomi and Motorola, OPPO is preparing to show off its own take on over-the-air or OTA wireless charging and it is interestingly using its rollable phone to do so.
LG seems to be the unfortunate victim of rumors that claim its impending demise, including some reportedly from company execs. The company, of course, denied those rumors and, to be fair, their official word carries more weight than hearsay. The latest subject of those rumors is the LG Rollable phone that the company teased just last month. It turns out, LG hasn't actually made any final decision about it yet, meaning its fate still remains in limbo for now.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, as they say, but few might find it hard to call the latest Pixel phones beautiful. True, they have their own character, in some respects, but some might be wishing this year's round would offer something different. Unfortunately, changes might not come until a Pixel 6 later this year, and, at least based on these leaks about the Pixel 5a, we might experience a bit of a deja vu that could confuse some consumers in the long run.
Huawei just revealed its next foldable phone and first impressions have been lukewarm if not downright disappointing. Fortunately, that's not the only big phone that might be around the corner. No, there won't be a new foldable much less a foldable coming really soon but ASUS will be trying to make a big splash in about two weeks with a more regular powerhouse. The ASUS ROG Phone 5's arrival is pretty much confirmed thanks to DxOMark's very early review of its audio capabilities, along with some interesting tidbits to boot.
South Korean sources suggest this week that LG's sent word of a halting of efforts for their future rollable phone. This conceptual effort was meant to be a real deal, at some point - a phone with a display that'd effective unfurl like a scroll. But now, amid the restructuring of the LG smartphone business in general, it would appear that any sort of "rollable" smartphone efforts will need to be done by a different company, one more prepared to drop cash on such a risky endeavor.