It wasn’t long ago that we’d be eagerly awaiting for the Black Friday deals to drop at midnight tonight. Nowadays, it’s strange to see a hot piece of tech that hasn’t had its price slashed by the day itself. The Garmin Venu 3 has been on our watchlist all month, but its price hasn’t budged until now. We’ve finally seen all colorways of the premium fitness tracker drop to $399.99.

Garmin Venu 3 for $399.99 ($50 off) 

The holidays are upon us once again. There are trips to be made, family gatherings to be endured, and gifts to get. We can’t help with the first two, but we can signpost you to some of the finest Black Friday 2023 deals available. Whether you’re gifting for a loved one or treating yourself as a reward for being good all year, we’ll spotlight the best offers to be found online.

We’ve got a tech focus at Android Authority, so you’re in the wrong place if you’re looking for a new sweater. But if you’re in the market for the hottest new smartphones, headphones, or fitness trackers of the year, scroll on.

In its Soundcore line, Anker hit the sweet spot between functionality and affordability. So, for those looking to upgrade their audio this Black Friday week, this Soundcore sale will be music to their ears. There are dozens of headphones and earbuds deals from the brand to explore today, with as much as 53% in savings to be had.

The deal we were immediately drawn to was the Anker Soundcore Liberty 4 NC for just $69.99. While the 30% markdown might not be the biggest of the sale, these impressive buds were only released in the summer, marking an all-time low price. Scoring an 8.1-star rating from our sister site, SoundGuys, is no mean feat for a pair of wireless earbuds in this price range, but they punch above their weight. Solid ANC, good sound, and strong battery life were just three of the standout features for the experts at SG.

Amazon saves the best Black Friday offers for its own products, and the Amazon Fire tablet deals don’t disappoint. There’s up to 50% off the already affordable Android tablet range, including all of the latest generation of the slates.

While not the biggest price drop on offer, we were particularly drawn to the deal on the all-new Amazon Fire HD 10 device. The recently released tablet is experiencing its first sale since it hit the market, with the $140 retail tag marked down to just $79.99 in the holiday sale. It offers 25% faster performance than its predecessor while weighing in at 30g lighter, and the front-facing camera is upgraded from 2MP to 5MP. You can’t compare such specs to the four-figure tablets from Samsung and Apple, but as a budget-friendly option or gift for a loved one, this offer is very hard to beat.

We’ve spotted a deal on one of the best Android phones on the market that surpasses Black Friday savings. If you don’t mind a Lavender hue, that colorway of the 512GB Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is discounted by $80 more than its counterparts, giving you the chance to save $380 on the flagship device.

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra (512GB) for $999.99 ($380 off)

Boost Mobile Three Months 5GB Plan SIM Card Kit for $14.99 ($30 off)

To be clear, that isn’t a plan for $14.99 per month — that’s the regular rate. This is a one-time payment of $14.99 for the whole three-month period. You can call it a $30 discount or an effective rate of $5 per month. Whichever way you look at it, it’s an amazing deal.

The Google Pixel 8a is only expected to launch in May 2024, but we’ve already seen a few leaked renders and specs emerge. This gives us a good idea of what to expect next year.

Now, SmartPrix and leaker Kamila Wojciechowska have gone one step further and uploaded the apparent Pixel 8a wallpapers. These backgrounds were reportedly designed by Andrew Zuckerman, in line with recent Pixels like the Pixel 8 series. Check out low-resolution previews of the backgrounds below.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 series is so fresh off the production line that we weren’t expecting big deals in the Black Friday sales. While big price drops may still be a while away, Samsung is coming at you with multiple ways to save on the premium Android tablets, and the best method is through the Samsung Shop App. By stacking offers, it’s possible to save as much as $745 on the higher-spec model of the Tab S9.

Here’s how it works: Samsung is offering a free storage upgrade on the device this holiday season, which reduces the price of the 12GB model from $920 to $799.99. There’s then an enhanced trade-in program to take advantage of, giving you up to $600 more in savings. If you’re on mobile and you buy through the Shop App, your first purchase will save you another $25. The final price you’d pay for the tablet would be $174.99.

Some Pixel 8 Pro users noticed that their phone displays had bumps and ripples on the inside of the screen glass. This phenomenon suggested that internal components could be pressing against the display.

Now, Google has issued a statement to 9to5Google, confirming that the bumps are caused by internal components.

The drama around OpenAI, the creators of ChatGPT, seems to have ended with the reappointment of Sam Altman as the CEO. Or has it? A new report now brings to light a “powerful artificial intelligence discovery that could threaten humanity,” which is believed to be one of the triggers that led to Altman’s ouster.

Reuters published a report on a letter several staff researchers wrote to the previous Board of Directors at OpenAI. This letter contained an ominous warning about the AI discovery. The company declined to comment when the publication contacted OpenAI about the letter. Subsequently, it acknowledged in an internal message to staffers that OpenAI has a project called Q* (Q-Star) and a letter that staff researchers had sent to the previous Board of Directors.

Samsung might introduce a new kind of OLED panel on its phones in the second half of 2025. Termed blue phosphorescent OLED, also known as PHOLED, these panels are said to greatly reduce power consumption compared to OLEDs in use today.

Fake imagery is a serious problem today, as edited or completely fabricated pictures frequently get passed around in the name of misinformation and hoaxes. Now, Sony has announced that a new image authentication technology is coming to its cameras in 2024.

The company revealed that it’s completed a second round of testing its in-camera authentication tech with the Associated Press (AP). This solution is used to verify that images were indeed captured on its cameras.

Chromebooks are perfect laptops to serve as a gateway to the internet, as their entire existence is built around an internet connection and browser-based workflow powered by Chrome OS. This reliance on the cloud also allows Chromebooks to be built with more modest specifications, as the local machine isn’t doing a lot of heavy lifting on its own. If you want to give someone a device that brings them online and lets them get basic tasks done, then a Chromebook is perfect. The state of Maryland in the US has done precisely that, distributing a whole lot of Chromebooks to people in need.

Maryland Governor Wes Moore announced that the state has provisioned more than 133,000 Chromebooks to be distributed through 27 local governments to underserved households in the state. The report (spotted by Android Central) highlights the initiative as part of a $27.2 million investment to give Marylanders accessible, reliable technology alongside high-speed internet.

Amazon launched the Kindle Scribe earlier this year, offering a stylus pen and note-taking functionality. Now, the retail colossus has slashed prices on this device as part of a variety of Black Friday deals.

The company is cutting Kindle Scribe prices by $100 to $115, with the entry-level 16GB model retailing for just $239.99 (was $339.99). Check out all the discounted models below.

Galaxy Book laptops are pretty polished Windows machines, bringing Samsung integration and slick designs. Now, these devices have received record-low price cuts as part of a slew of Black Friday deals.

If you’re looking for some audio deals this Black Friday, you can get some really special discounts on Bose hardware. All the latest Bose headphones earbuds, and Bluetooth speakers, including the QuietComfort Ultra buds, QuietComfort Earbuds II, SounLink Flex Bluetooth portable speaker, SoundLink Revolve, and more, are available at highly discounted rates. However, the best Black Friday deal you’ll find in Bose’s portfolio is on the highly regarded Bose QuietComfort 45 headphones.

Google recently updated Maps with new colors and the changes haven’t gone down well with users. Former Google Maps designer Elizabeth Laraki has also voiced her dissent about the new Google Maps color palette, but that’s not all. She has pointed out several other things that she feels are wrong with Maps right now.

Samsung has rolled out the stable version of One UI 6 to a handful of devices so far, with more to get the update soon. While the update introduces a variety of new features, it looks like it could also be missing a crucial one — screen burn-in protection.

When it comes to OLED screens, there’s really only one downside — the danger of screen burn-in. This is where a display suffers permanent discoloration, which can appear in the form of a text or image outline, fading of colors, or other noticeable patches. Samsung has long taken steps to avoid this issue as far back as the Galaxy S3; one of those steps includes shifting pixels every so often.

Looking for a new smart TV and a sound bar to pair it with? Black Friday is one of the best times of the year to cash in on deals that bring these devices down to an affordable price. Right now, Amazon has a plethora of deals for one of the best brands in these two categories — Samsung.

Get up to 40% off on Samsung TVs and sound bars

The experts at our sister site, SoundGuys, know more than most about audio tech. Their list of the best Sennheiser headphones is topped by the Momentum 4 Wireless, which just happens to be getting its biggest price drop ever in the Amazon Black Friday sale. If you catch the deal in time, you can save a massive $150 on the premium cans.

Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless for $249.95 ($150 off)

Welcome to the second edition of What’s New in AI, our weekly update where we bring you all the latest AI news, tools, and tips to help you excel in this new AI-driven future. 

AI in the news: The biggest AI developments and news

This week’s news was largely dominated by Open AI’s huge drama and fallout over the firing of Sam Altman, though a few other small developments did occur amid the chaos. Let’s jump in and look at the biggest headlines from last week:

Pay has been a sticking point between Spotify and artists for years now. A new bill in Uruguay aims to fix the problem, but Spotify is threatening to leave the country if the bill isn’t changed.

According to The Guardian, Uruguay’s government voted on a budget bill in October that included two articles related to streaming media. Article 284 says that social media and the internet are to be added “as formats for which, if a song is reproduced, the performer is entitled to financial remuneration.” While article 285 states that the “right to a fair and equitable remuneration” will be added to copyright law. By remuneration, these articles are referring to authors, composers, performers, directors, and screenwriters.

Samsung is preparing to launch its follow-up to the Galaxy Book 3 series. Although the release is likely still months away, a new leak has given us our first look at Samsung’s next laptops — the Galaxy Book 4 series.

Courtesy of the folks over at Windows Report, images of the Galaxy Book 4 lineup have leaked, as well as specs. Based on the images, it appears Samsung’s next notebooks won’t be much different from the previous generation, in terms of design. There are two Thunderbolt 4 ports, one HDMI, a MicroSD, a USB-A 3.2 port, card reader, and headphone jack. It’s unknown if Samsung is using the same materials as before, but the outlet believes they are the same due to having similar weights.

Google Bard might not be as good as ChatGPT in many ways, but it’s getting there. As an example, Google announced today that Bard will now offer a deeper analysis of YouTube video content, which could be very useful.

To be clear, Bard could already analyze YouTube videos from a previous update in September. However, this did not involve actual examinations of the video content and the ability to interpret that content for detailed queries.

We’ve been impressed with the Nothing Phone 2 since its release in the summer. It may not yet have the name recognition of its Android rivals, but it offers flagship specs at an affordable price tag. A $140 Black Friday markdown on the Nothing Phone 2 has now temporarily given it a positively mid-range pricing.

Nothing Phone 2 (12/256GB) for $559 ($140 off)

We’ve seen many Samsung phones getting the new One UI 6 update based on Android 14. However, tablets have been left out in the cold. That changes today (per SamMobile), as the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 series is getting One UI 6!

The Galaxy Tab S9, Galaxy Tab S9 Plus, and Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra have all seen new updates land in Europe. That means it’s only a matter of time before the update makes its way to other countries, including the United States.

Welcome to Wallpaper Wednesday! In this weekly roundup, we’ll give you a handful of Android wallpapers you can download and use on your phone, tablet, or even your laptop/PC. The images will come from folks here at Android Authority as well as our readers. All are free to use and come without watermarks. File formats are JPG and PNG, and we’ll provide images in both landscape and portrait modes, so they’ll be optimized for various screens.

For the newest walls as well as all the ones from previous weeks, check out this Drive link. Want to submit your own? Head to the bottom of this article.

If you’re in the US and want to buy a budget or mid-range phone, chances are that a Samsung Galaxy A-series phone is one of your best options. They’re reliable, come with practical features that you will use, and do not cost as much as a flagship. Samsung is on track to refresh its lineup for 2024, and a recurring theme for the coming year would be a squared-off and boxy design with sharp edges reminiscent of the iPhone 14 series. Renders of the upcoming Galaxy A35 have leaked, indicating that Samsung would be going forward with the boxy design, though muting it with polished edges.

Prominent leaker OnLeaks has shared renders and dimensions of the Galaxy A35 with MySmartPrice.

If the Samsung Black Friday deals weren’t already good enough this year, there’s a way you can save even more on some of the brand’s best tech. The Samsung Shop App has the best holiday prices on various devices, including $250 off the Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus. Combined with the $600 trade-in discount, that can score you the best Android phone for as little as $149.99.

Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus for $749.99 ($250 off)

Even though Google has plenty of messaging apps, Google Messages stands out as a great, no-frills texting app for Android. The app has seen some renewed vigor in the past few weeks, with reports of new features and functionality consistently trickling out. Now, a new report highlights upcoming changes to the profile page and the chat bar within Google Messages.

Google has been working on a Profiles feature for a while now, and it is expected to push forward RCS-based messaging on the platform. Before the feature begins widely rolling out, Google appears to have spruced up the Profiles section, as per a report from TheSpAndroid investigating the latest Google Messages beta app for Android.

Somewhere between Sam Altman being fired, hired by Microsoft, and finally returning to OpenAI as CEO, ChatGPT got a new feature that was once available to only paying users. The AI’s ability to have voice-based conversations is now available to all users on the ChatGPT app.

OpenAI, the creators of ChatGPT, has been plunged into chaos since Friday last week when its Board of Directors fired its CEO and co-founder, Sam Altman. Since then, the company has had two CEOs in the form of Mira Murati (OpenAI’s Chief Technology Officer) and Emmett Shear (ex-Twitch CEO). Now, the company has a new Board of Directors, and they have chosen a new CEO, Sam Altman (yes, the previous one himself).

OpenAI announced through its X (formerly known as Twitter) account that it has agreed in principle for its ex-CEO Sam Altman to return as CEO. As part of the arrangement, the composition of its Board of Directors will be changed.

Hulu is now running a Black Friday deal that gives you a subscription to the streaming service for just 0.99 per month for an entire year.

Samsung has opened the floodgates for the One UI 6 update. After pushing out the stable Android 14 software on the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5 just a few hours ago, the company has now released it for the Galaxy S23 FE.

ChatGPT is now back up after an outage that lasted over three hours earlier today. People were unable to use the chatbot, resulting in spikes on DownDetector as well as a flood of reports on X (formerly Twitter).

If we’re honest, many of us know that we’re only around six weeks away from starting out on some 2024 fitness goals. A fitness tracker will come in handy if you’re going to motivate yourself in the winter months, and the Fitbit Black Friday sale leaves you with little reason not to invest. There’s as much as 38% off wearables in the promotion, with prices to suit all budgets.

On one end of that scale, the Fitbit Sense 2 is back at its 2023-best price of $199.95, saving you $100 on retail. It isn’t Fitbit’s finest piece of work in the eyes of our stern critics, but it’s certainly worth your consideration at this reduced rate. For those with simpler needs or in the market for an affordable fitness gift, the Fitbit Inspire 3 is astonishingly good value at just $69.95 in the sale. We named it as the best all-round budget fitness tracker, and that was based on its $100 retail price. At 30% off, it’s a steal.

Last week, Google surprisingly rolled out Android 14 QPR2 beta 1. This was unexpected because we thought we would see more betas for QPR1. Now, less than a week later, Google is already rolling out a point update for QPR2.

Android 14 QPR2 beta 1.1 is rolling out now for those enrolled in the Android 14 beta program on supported Pixel devices.

This morning, we reported on the Galaxy A54 getting the One UI 6 stable update. Now the time has come for the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5 to be updated to Android 14.

Verizon has announced that Samsung’s latest folding phones are ready to get the stable One UI 6 update.  Flip 5 owners in the US will get software version F731USQU1BWK9, while Fold 5 owners in the US will get F946USQU1BWK9. This update will also come with November’s security patch.

Currently, Google is in a court fight with Epic Games, being accused of stifling app competition. Since the case kicked off, there have been some interesting revelations, but the latest discovery about Google and the Fortnite creator may be the most surprising yet.

The Verge has obtained internal emails from Google that reference a 2018 strategy called “Project Elektra.” It appears that Project Elektra was a plan to obtain influence over Epic Games by purchasing a controlling stake in the company or buying it outright.

With Black Friday sales in full swing, everyone is getting excited about high-end smartphones and premium earbuds. But what do you actually need? Most of us could use something a bit less flashy, like a portable SSD to store our stuff offline or maybe even a bit of extra memory for our tablet. Samsung has you covered in its Black Friday event, with massive discounts on some of its top memory and storage devices.

There are some fantastic savings on various forms of internal and external storage, but one particularly stood out to us. While many of the discounts are in the 30% to 40% range — still rather amazing for Samsung — the Samsung Portable T7 Touch 2TB SSD is marked down by a massive 66%, dropping from $290 to just $99.99 in the sale. The CES 2020 Innovation Awards Honoree offers AES 256-bit encryption and gives you the option of unlocking it via fingerprint.

After rolling out for the Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S22, the stable One UI 6 update train is still chugging along. It appears the next phone to get the update will be the Galaxy A54, and it is available to users in the US.

According to SamMobile, at least one Reddit user has reported receiving the stable One UI 6 update. The outlet has confirmed that this is no accident and the Android 14 release is indeed starting in the US.

Updated, November 21, 2023 (12:21 PM ET): We’ve updated this OnePlus 12 rumor hub with more information on the global launch of the OnePlus 12.

Original article: OnePlus has thrown us a lot of curveballs over the past few years. Most recently, the company launched the OnePlus 11 and simultaneously announced it would not release a OnePlus 11T. It also will no longer make Pro models (which means no OnePlus 11 Pro is on the way). This was interesting when you remember that, in 2022, the company released a OnePlus 10 Pro and a OnePlus 10T and didn’t release a OnePlus 10! It’s all a bit wacky. Regardless, the OnePlus 12 is what we’re looking toward next, but what can we expect?

The Nothing Chats rollout and subsequent takedown from the Google Play Store was a debacle Android users won’t soon forget. In fact, the launch went so poorly that the app that Nothing Chats was built on is also now being shut down.

First reported by 9to5Google, the Sunbird app is being shut down by its creators. The app no longer appears in the Google Play Store and Sunbird users have been notified that the company has “decided to pause Sunbird usage for now” as it investigates security concerns.

Snapchat is an instant messaging app that is quite popular with Gen Z, many of whom love the ethereal messaging functionality. This makes the app quite a draw for any phone maker targeting the Gen Z crowd. We’ve recently seen the likes of OnePlus integrating a Snapchat lockscreen shortcut with the Android 14 update on the OnePlus 11. Next, we could likely see Samsung do the same on its smartphones.

Snapchat v12.62.0.36 Beta includes strings that clearly indicate that Samsung could soon let you add a direct shortcut to the Snapchat camera on the lockscreen.

It feels inevitable that many of us will be doing a lot of streaming over the holiday season. We’re going to be home more, and the streaming services will be cranking out content. You might as well ensure you’re all set for the winter, which is where the Roku Black Friday sale comes in. Both the Roku Express 4K Plus and Streaming Stick are hitting their best prices of 2023 this week.

Roku Express 4K Plus for $24.97 ($15 off) | Roku Streaming Stick for $29.98 ($20 off)

When it comes to action cameras, GoPro’s Hero lineup is one of the most popular ones around. In fact, “GoPro” has almost become synonymous with “action camera” as most people can instantly recognize the familiar form factor. Insta360 also makes action cameras as part of its One and Go lineups, and while successful, they haven’t reached the same popularity as GoPro. Insta360 wants a bigger piece of the action camera pie, and it’s launching the new Insta360 Ace and Ace Pro with AI features to snatch the pie from GoPro.

Aside from some good specifications, the highlight of the new Insta360 Ace and Ace Pro action cameras are the neat AI editing effects. You can use AI to help with your video edits, with features like AI Warp to add dynamic effects to your videos. You can use either preset or custom keywords, and with these prompts, you can get some unique effects onto your videos.

Some brands make a statement about the quality of their hardware by almost never having it on sale. Apple does it with the iPhone, and Sonos does it with its speakers and soundbars. But that’s why we wait for Black Friday bargains, and the season has bought a Sonos sale to reward that patience. There’s up to 25% off some of the finest audio on the market in the promotion.

The discounts are offered directly from Sonos and are also reflected on Amazon. For example, The Sonos Roam portable speaker usually sells for $179, but this week, you can pick it up for just $134. Ideal for both home and outdoor use, its compact design is both aesthetically pleasing and practical. It features an IP67 rating and offers both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, ensuring seamless music streaming and smart home integration. The speaker’s sound quality is commendable for its size, and it supports voice assistants for convenient hands-free operation.

The OnePlus 12 is launching on December 4, but it will remain a China-exclusive for some time. Trusted tipster Max Jambor is now reporting that the global launch for the flagship will be scheduled for January.

Just when you thought the drama around OpenAI, the creators of ChatGPT, has come to a close, a new twist appears in the tale. Yesterday, OpenAI’s ex-CEO Sam Altman joined Microsoft. But it now seems he still has his heart with OpenAI and has hinted at a return to the company. What’s more, OpenAI employees have petitioned the Board of Directors to resign, and curiously, one of the signatories to the petition is the very Director that seemingly triggered Altman’s departure!

Satya Nadella reaffirms OpenAI partnership and stands behind Altman

In an interview with Bloomberg a few hours ago, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella reaffirmed his commitment to both OpenAI and to Sam Altman, OpenAI ex-President Greg Brockman, and the rest of the team, “irrespective of where they are.” In response to a question about Altman wanting to return to OpenAI and investors also wanting the same, Nadella responded that Microsoft wants to partner with OpenAI and Altman, and “irrespective of where Sam [Altman] is, he’s working with Microsoft.”

Pixel 8 and 8 Pro users have started noticing small bumps and ripples on the inside of the display glass. The tiny formations indicate that some components from the inside of the phones are pressing up against the display.

Qualcomm and MediaTek have both announced flagship smartphone processors with support for generative AI features. But we didn’t have to wait long for this capability to come to the mid-range segment.

We reported yesterday that YouTube has been inducing a delay in loading videos on non-Chrome browsers like Firefox and Edge, though some users said they observe it on Chrome as well. Google has now issued a statement, attributing the delay in loading YouTube videos to ad blockers and confirming that users must wait a bit if they continue using them.

Here is the complete statement sent to us by a YouTube spokesperson:

To support a diverse ecosystem of creators globally and allow billions to access their favorite content on YouTube, we’ve launched an effort to urge viewers with ad blockers enabled to allow ads on YouTube or try YouTube Premium for an ad free experience. Users who have ad blockers installed may experience suboptimal viewing, regardless of the browser they are using.

Google’s statement squarely marks the delay as an intentional change targeted toward users who continue to use ad blockers. This is another step in blocking ad blockers on YouTube and pushing users to either accept ad-supported YouTube or subscribe to YouTube Premium. It makes sense, as YouTube is a business that survives on ads and subscriptions, and not blessing the platform with either of those will make it difficult for the platform (and, by extension, its creators) to thrive.

Google’s statement also discards the notion that the delay in loading videos is related to browsers. However, users have reported the delay going away when switching to Chrome.

There is a possibility that the change is being tested on accounts marked for ad blocking, and the test is being conducted first on non-Chrome browsers, with the final intention being to apply the change across all browsers. That would align most user reports with Google’s statements, though several users have also mentioned that the video delay occurs even with no extensions loaded.

Have you experienced delays on YouTube? Do you experience this delay with ad blockers? Let us know in the comments below!

OnePlus had been teasing a new launch for the past few days. Posts on X hyping up the launch fooled everyone into thinking the company would launch a new speaker, entering the category for the first time ever. However, that’s not what happened today. Instead of new hardware, OnePlus announced a new AI Music Studio — an online tool to help you generate lyrics, music, and music videos using text and other prompts.

OnePlus’ new endeavor isn’t a serious one if you’re a professional musician looking to create something complex. It’s a limited tool made mostly just for fun. You are greeted by an interface where you select from a pre-determined list of genres, moods, and music video themes.

You then add text prompts for what you want your song to be about. We tried to go with a serious theme first, “a song about the ongoing Israel-Gaza war,” but we were promptly told our request was beyond the scope of the company’s policies. We then chose to create a song about “a lonely man in a big city.” Once that request was also rejected for policy reasons, we went with a song about “a wild night out.”

Once we hit the ‘Generate’ button, the AI tool quickly translated the prompts into rap lyrics, which, to be honest, weren’t half bad. You can always regenerate the lyrics if you don’t like what you see. Once you’re happy with what you have, you can hit “Proceed,” and the software will create the track for you with a graphical music video based on your selected theme. You can choose to download your song or share it across social media.

What’s OnePlus’ reason for making this AI Music Studio? Probably just publicity and jumping on the “AI” buzz. But anyway, it was fun to take a break from regular news to try this out.

Samsung did a great job with the Galaxy A14 5G. We crowned the budget device as one of the best starter phones you can buy with a solid primary camera, a flagship-like design, good battery life, and most importantly, a very reasonable price tag. Now, Samsung is hoping to one-up this winner of a phone with the Galaxy A15 5G.

Renders of the upcoming budget A-series option have now leaked over at Newzonly in partnership with tipster Paras Guglani. The images show that the Galaxy A15 5G isn’t changing much in terms of look. It’s got the same rounded corners, a vertical triple rear camera setup, and a U-shaped camera notch up front. The display bezels seem slightly thinner, but we can’t be sure since these aren’t real-life photos.

The leakers report that the Galaxy A15 5G could be available in three colors — yellow, blue, and black. We see the blue variant in the leaked renders.

In terms of specs, the Galaxy A15 5G could bring one big surprise. A previous rumor suggested that the phone would feature an OLED display, which would be a huge upgrade over the LCD panel of the Galaxy A14 5G. Unfortunately, the new leak does not confirm this. It simply claims that the A15 5G will sport a 90Hz display Full HD+ display.

Meanwhile, it looks like Samsung will once again opt for a MediaTek SoC, the Dimensity 6100 Plus to be exact. The octa-core mid-range chipset was announced earlier this year and supports sub-6GHz 5G (no mmWave here).

Other specs of the Galaxy A15 5G might include 128GB built-in storage with an option to expand by up to 1TB, a 50MP + 5MP + 2MP rear camera setup, a 13MP selfie shooter, a 5,000mAh battery, and 25W fast wired charging. The phone is expected to be priced well under $200.

In September, Google announced a new YouTube feature called Playables. This new perk will allow people to instantly fire up certain games right in the YouTube app without needing to download anything. In its announcement of this feature, Google said it would be rolling out early access to a limited number of users, but we haven’t heard much since then.

Thanks to a tipster, though, we now have our first in-depth look at YouTube Playables. You can check the screenshots below for a good idea of what to expect.

YouTube Playables: Screenshots

As expected, the games on offer here are mobile-first titles. This is interesting, considering Google says this feature will work on both mobile and desktop. Regardless, you shouldn’t expect Playables to be a Stadia resurrection, as these selections don’t indicate that AAA console titles are on the way.

From the screenshots we have, here are the games we can expect:

From the screenshots, we see that this demo of Playables is open until March 28. Theoretically, that means we shouldn’t expect a full rollout of the service until after that date. Google gave no information on when to expect Playables to actually launch, so it’s likely we won’t see it in a stable form until the first half of 2024. Until then, you’ll need to be a YouTube Premium subscriber and be lucky enough to be invited into the testing phase.

If you are a Premium subscriber and want to see if you’re eligible, go to youtube.com/new and check if you have the option to opt-in.

Notably, Netflix offers mobile games as part of its Netflix Games series. From what we’ve seen so far, Playables looks like a direct competitor to that. Time will tell which platform becomes the winner.

Thank you to Alex V. for the tip!

When Apple announced the Vision Pro, it provided plenty of information about the new hardware. One thing the Cupertino firm omitted, however, was an exact release date, only offering a launch window of early 2024. But a new report may have helped narrow down that window to a specific month.

Apple is reportedly aiming for March 2024 to release its new mixed-reality headset, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. The Apple insider claims that the company was initially planning to launch the Vision Pro in January next year, but is still in the process of preparing distribution plans and conducting final device testing.

Apple’s headset is expected to arrive in the US first with other regions to follow. There’s no information on how far out the global launch will be, but it’s said countries like Canada, the UK, and more are expected to get the device by the end of the year. It’s expected that Apple will use one of its early-year events to further promote the device.

With the headset costing $3499, the Vision Pro will be out of reach for most of Apple’s typical audience. The target audience seems more suited for developers and other workplace professionals, but we’re sure some enthusiasts will find a way to justify the purchase.

Last week, it was revealed that Apple is working on a sequel to the Vision Pro called Project Alaska. It’s expected that Project Alaska will be cheaper than the Vision Pro and could launch sometime in 2025 or early 2026.

Although the Galaxy A24 went on general sale back in May 2023, Samsung may already be prepared to launch its next iteration. A new leak may have revealed the design, specs, and release date of what could be a new addition to the best cheap Android phones available.

Obtained by WinFuture, renders of the Galaxy A25 5G have leaked online. Judging by the images, the device is very similar to A24, but differs in a few areas. One of those differences is a bump where the physical buttons appear on the right side of the device. While the colors are mostly the same as last time, A25 5G appears to feature a dot matrix-like pattern on the back.

In addition to renders, the outlet also shared some of the specs. According to the leak, the phone may feature a 6.5-inch 120Hz AMOLED display with a resolution of 2340 x 1080. The A25 5G could also come with USB-C, a 3.5mm audio jack, NFC, dual-SIM support, a side-mounted fingerprint scanner, expandable storage (up to 1TB), and Bluetooth 5.1. It’s also said to run on One UI 6 out of the box.

Inside, it’s said we’ll find an Exynos 1280 chip instead of a MediaTek chip — which appeared in the A24. Along with Samsung’s chip could be 6GB or 8GB of RAM and 128GB or 256GB of storage. And it could also be powered by a 5,000mAh battery with 25W charging.

As for the cameras, we can expect a 50MP main camera with optical image stabilization (OIS) and an f/1.8 aperture. Joining the main shooter is said to be an 8MP wide-angle sensor that has an f/2.2 aperture and a 120-degree field of view. The third and final rear camera is reportedly a 2MP macro camera, while the selfie camera offers 13MP.

There’s no information on US pricing, but the outlet claims the Galaxy A25 5G will cost 279 CHF ($315.54). We also don’t have a US release date, but the report claims the A25 5G will launch in Europe between December 7 and 19.

Apple currently has an extensive iPad lineup. You have the standard iPads, the iPad Air, the iPad mini, and the iPad Pros. Clearly, Apple isn’t looking to streamline its tablet business anytime soon. And it has good reason not to. The company is currently the leader in the tablet market, with Samsung a distant second, but gaining in popularity. It is perhaps Apple’s prerogative to offer tablets at different price points to keep customers from switching over to the Android tablet side.

Nevertheless, it looks like Apple is on track to refresh its iPad Pro lineup soon. The iPad Pro (2024), also deemed the iPad Pro (7th generation), is still some time away, but rumors about the upcoming tablets are in full swing already. Here’s everything we know.

Update, November 20, 2023: We have updated our iPad Pro (7th gen) rumor hub to update on the potential time frame and a few other small changes to ensure this guide stays as up-to-date as possible.

Android 14 officially arrived on October 4th to select Pixel devices but what about Android TV 14? Google has reportedly canceled its plans to roll out Android TV 13 and is now focusing on Android TV 14, but it’s yet to officially roll out.

Splurging on a new phone, tablet, and fitness tracker in the holiday sales isn’t as much fun if they’re not fully powered when you need them. Anker’s here to help with some impressive Black Friday deals on all manner of charging equipment. There’s up to 60% off power banks, wall chargers, and more.

The Anker 568 USB-C 11-in-1 Docking Station is a prime example of some of the deals on offer. The device retails for $300, but that asking price has been slashed in the promotion to an all-time low of just $119.99. If you find that your desk is short of power outlets or just a tangle of wires, this docking station is the solution you need.

Powered by USB4 technology, the Anker 568 offers an 11-in-1 expansion. It features a 40 Gbps upstream bandwidth, enabling 8K single monitor display and file transfers up to 10Gbps. The hub includes a 100W USB4 upstream port, two 10Gbps USB-C ports with 30W charging, four USB-A ports, Ethernet, HDMI 2.0, and two DisplayPorts. 

Here’s a selection of some of the other highlights of the sale:

• Anker Nano 5,000mAh USB-C Power Bank for $20.99 ($9 off)
• Anker Prime 100W GaN Wall Charger for $54.39 ($30 off)
• Anker Prime 67W GaN 3-Port Compact Fast PPS Wall Charger for $37.99 ($12 off)
• Anker Prime 6-in-1 USB-C Charging Station for $76.99 ($33 off)
• Anker 563 USB-C 10-in-1 Docking Station for $74 ($76 off)
• Anker 333 USB-C to USB-C Cable (3-Pack) for $17.99 ($12 off)
• Anker SOLIX C1000 Portable Power Station for $699 ($300 off)

There are literally dozens more Anker Black Friday deals to explore on Amazon. You can peruse them for yourself via the button below. 

While Apple has continually made improvements to its tvOS platform, the last two years have seen relatively minor updates. Thankfully, that’s not the case this time. The latest version of the Apple TV’s OS brings several new improvements to the mix. Let’s jump in and discuss everything we know about tvOS 17, from features to compatibility and more.

Not too long ago, Apple conceded that it would have to allow the sideloading of apps on the iPhone, at least in the European Union. This development has reportedly frustrated Ivan Krstić, Apple’s head of security engineering and architecture. Krstić claims there’s a “great misunderstanding” about sideloading.

Last year, the European Commission passed the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which requires gatekeepers — like Apple — to offer alternative app stores and payment methods on their platforms. The DMA went into full effect on May 2, 2023, and Apple is expected to comply with the regulation by March 2024, according to financial filings.

While the European Commission believes this will lead to fair competition, Apple and Krstić strongly disagree. In an interview with The Independent, Krstić says the idea that sideloading gives users an extra choice is false. According to Krstić:

That’s a great misunderstanding – and one we have tried to explain over and over. The reality of what the alternative distribution requirements enable is that software that users in Europe need to use – sometimes business software, other times personal software, social software, things that they want to use – may only be available outside of the store, alternatively distributed.

In that case, those users don’t have a choice to get that software from a distribution mechanism that they trust. And so, in fact, it is simply not the case that users will retain the choice they have today to get all of their software from the App Store.

In short, Krstić is not very happy about being forced to allow sideloading because people will be downloading apps from a place that’s less secure than Apple’s platform.

This isn’t the only change Apple will undergo in the future, as it plans to introduce RCS to iMessage in 2024 as well. This move was likely a reaction to the European Commission planning to look into whether the DMA should apply to iMessage.

Original article: Every year, smartphone fans look forward to Samsung’s latest flagship Android phones. In 2023, those flagships were in the Galaxy S23 series. Next year, however, we expect to see the Samsung Galaxy S24 series. We know it’s months away, but rumors surrounding these phones are already ramping up!

Below, you’ll find all the latest credible rumors surrounding the Galaxy S24, Galaxy S24 Plus, and Galaxy S24 Ultra. We’ve also included a wishlist, which comprises things we hope to see but don’t have any evidence for yet.

Will there be a Samsung Galaxy S24?

Although nothing is ever certain in the tech world, the likelihood of Samsung launching a Galaxy S24 series is incredibly high. The company has released Samsung Galaxy S phones every single year for the past 13 years. We see no reason why it would stop now.

Of course, Samsung has thrown us curveballs before. In 2020, for example, it switched up the naming strategy for the phones by jumping from the Galaxy S10 straight to the Galaxy S20. The company did this so the name of the phones would line up with the year in which they were launched. However, we don’t have any evidence to suggest Samsung has a change to its naming strategy on the way. As such, we fully expect to see a Galaxy S24 launch in 2024.

When might the Galaxy S24 release date be?

• Galaxy S21 launch: January 29, 2021
• Galaxy S22 launch: February 25, 2022
• Galaxy S23 launch: February 1, 2023

Over the past few years, Samsung has launched a new Galaxy S series in the first or second month of the year. You have to go back all the way to the Galaxy S8 to find a launch that didn’t happen in January or February (the Galaxy S8 launched in March 2017). With that in mind, our money is on Samsung launching the Galaxy S24 series in either January or February of 2024.

Ice Universe was one of the first to offer a rumor about the release date, suggesting it could launch on January 18 next year. This was further supported by a report claiming that Samsung’s manufacturing partners plan to begin mass production a month earlier than usual.

A report from SBS Biz, on the other hand, claims the launch could happen on January 17. It looks like the outlet may be right on the money, as The Elec reports that Samsung confirmed a January 17 launch for the Galaxy S24 lineup. The November 20 report states that pre-orders will start on January 17, and users should receive the phones sometime between January 26 and January 30. General sales for the Galaxy S24 series will reportedly begin on January 30.

In the past, Samsung used major tech events to launch its Galaxy S phones, most notably the Mobile World Congress. However, the company has moved away from this and recently created its own events catered explicitly to a Galaxy S launch. We expect the company to do the same thing in 2024. In other words, expect a flashy Samsung-specific launch event with hundreds of people in attendance in some major global city.

What features could the Galaxy S24 series have?

We are still very early in the release cycle of the Galaxy S23 series. Therefore, rumors should be viewed skeptically. However, there are certainly a few notable rumors we’ve heard so far, and we can always make some educated guesses based on things Samsung has done in the past.

How many models will the Galaxy S24 series have?

Ever since the Galaxy S20 series, there have been three models in each Galaxy S family: a standard model, a Plus variant, and the mighty Ultra model. We expect Samsung to continue with this formula in 2024. There will almost certainly be a Samsung Galaxy S24, Galaxy S24 Plus, and Galaxy S24 Ultra.

However, there has been a rumor floating around that Samsung could skip the Galaxy S24 Plus. This rumor originated with a relatively unknown leaker and has been shot down by other, more prominent leakers. It doesn’t sound too far-fetched, considering the Plus model is usually the weakest seller in the series. For now, though, we think Samsung will stick with its tried-and-true system of launching three Galaxy S24 devices.

In a poll, roughly half of our readers said they hope Samsung doesn’t ditch the Plus variant, so we hope Samsung listened.

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra design

We saw the first renders of the Galaxy S24 Ultra quite early this year. On September 29, 2023, reliable leaker OnLeaks posted some Galaxy S24 Ultra renders in partnership with SmartPrix.

At first glance, it looks like the Galaxy S24 Ultra will look very similar to the Galaxy S23 Ultra. However, there’s one huge change: the display is flat, or at least flatter. It’s a bit difficult to be totally conclusive from these renders, but it looks like Samsung has either removed the curved edges entirely or made them so subtle that they’re barely noticeable.

Sonny Dickson has shared images of dummy units of the Galaxy S24 Ultra, and the unit looks quite boxy and sharp.

Another change that could be coming involves the frame. Samsung used an aluminum frame for the Galaxy S23, but that may not be the case for the Galaxy S24. According to tipster Revegnus, all three models will adopt a titanium frame. This would no doubt be a response to the iPhone 15 Pro models using titanium frames.

A report from The Elec, however, claims the titanium frame will be reserved for the Ultra. But depending on the reception, the titanium frame could find its way to other models in the future.

The dimensions of the device have also shifted slightly. At 162.3 x 79 x 8.7mm, it is a tad shorter than the Galaxy S23 Ultra but also a bit wider. Allegedly, thanks to the rumored titanium frame, the phone could also be 1g lighter than the Galaxy S23 Ultra, which would mean 233g.

Samsung Galaxy S24 design

Samsung Galaxy S24

Credit: SmartPrix

It doesn’t look like Samsung will change things up too much in 2024 when it comes to the vanilla model. Renders of the standard Galaxy S24 were leaked by tipster OnLeaks and SmartPrix, showing a Samsung phone similar to the Galaxy S23 with flatter, polished edges. The rear camera cutouts, flat panel, and center-mounted punch-hole also scream the same design language Samsung used on its 2023 Galaxy S series flagships.

We haven’t seen renders yet, but the Galaxy S24 leak gives us the impression that the Galaxy S24 Plus will also look similar to its current counterpart. As mentioned earlier, all three models could end up with a titanium frame.

Sonny Dickson has shared images of dummy units of the Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24 Plus, and the phones look like they borrowed the design of the iPhone 14 Pro.

We can see the flat side and sharp edges quite clearly in the dummy units. On the iPhone 14 Pro, this type of design gave a solid feeling to the phone but was also criticized for being unergonomic, especially on the larger iPhone 14 Pro Max.

Specs

Since we’re so early in the leak cycle for the Galaxy S24 series, we highly recommend being skeptical of most leaks you see. That being said, here’s what we’ve been hearing when it comes to specs for these phones.

Exynos or Snapdragon processors?

In 2023, Samsung did something it hadn’t done in a long, long time: it released all Galaxy S23 devices with the same chipset, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. Previously, there were two types of Galaxy S phones: a Qualcomm Snapdragon model and a Samsung Exynos model. Snapdragon models would usually hit the United States, South Korea, and Singapore, while the rest of the world would see Exynos models. This sounds like it wouldn’t be a big deal, except that Snapdragon models were universally superior to Exynos models.

In 2024, will Samsung stick with this strategy? We hope it will, but evidence suggests it won’t. Initially, we expected Samsung to release all Galaxy S24 models globally with Snapdragon processors. Then, we heard a rumor saying that the vanilla Galaxy 24 would get an Exynos processor globally, but the Plus and Ultra models would have Snapdragon regardless of location.

A few outlets are reporting that Samsung could bring Exynos power back to the Galaxy S24 series in some capacity.

Another rumor suggests that Samsung might go back to how things were — mostly. According to the Korean outlet The Elec, Samsung could launch the Galaxy S24 series with Exynos processors in all areas except for the US. The only exception would be the Ultra model, which would be all-Snapdragon everywhere.

Thanks to a comment from Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon, we now know that the split will happen. The CEO stated during an earnings call that it would have the “majority share” of the Galaxy S24. Unfortunately, there was no clarification on how the split would work.

On October 6, 2023, Samsung officially unveiled the Exynos 2400 chipset. This will undoubtedly be the processor we see in at least some Galaxy S24 phones.

Other Galaxy S24 specs

The 2024 renders we’ve seen show phones that don’t look much different from their 2023 counterparts, but they could jump up to 13th-generation (M13) high-performance OLED panels. These panels are thinner and more power-efficient than the M12 screen on the iPhone 15. Tipster Ice Universe posted apparent S24 Ultra display specs in August. It’s believed that the screen will have the same resolution and aspect ratio but be significantly brighter (2,500 nits versus the S23 Ultra’s 1,750 nits).

A rumor from SamMobile also suggests the S24 series will get M13 OLED panels and 2,500 nits of brightness. The outlet’s rumor also claims these displays may have LTPO for variable refresh rate, and the S24 Plus could be upgraded to QHD+ resolution.

As for other specs of the phones, we don’t see Samsung changing things up significantly. You can go ahead and expect all three Galaxy S24 phones to have the same or better specs as their Galaxy S23 counterparts. One area that might get an upgrade is memory and storage. Some leaked information suggests that all models could start at 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. There may even be a 16GB variant for the Ultra.

However, Revegnus claimed on X in August that the S24 Ultra could be available with up to 2TB of storage. By contrast, the S23 Ultra tops out at 1TB. However, the leaker also suggested that the base Ultra model could only have 128GB of storage. This would be a major downgrade over the S23 Ultra, which shipped with 256GB of storage.

In August, we heard about rumored battery capacities of the three phones. Allegedly, the Galaxy S24 could get a nice increase to a 4,000mAh cell. Meanwhile, the Galaxy S24 Plus could have the biggest battery of any Plus model at 4,900mAh. Unfortunately, the Galaxy S24 Ultra’s battery would be the same as all other Ultras at 5,000mAh.

However, a rumor that came out in July from RGcloudS on Twitter suggested the S24 Ultra (and possibly the S24 Plus) could get a stacked battery. RGcloudS also claimed the phone(s) could have a charging speed of 65W. But China’s 3C certification website lists the Plus and the Ultra as having 45W charging. The base model will also retain the same charging speed as its predecessor, which comes out to 25W.

Cameras

So far, the biggest changes we have heard that could possibly come to the Galaxy S24 series surround the cameras. The wildest rumor says that the Galaxy S24 Ultra could upgrade one of its two telephoto lenses, specifically the 3x optical lens. The rumor states that this would then become a 5x lens. However, tipster Revegnus disputed this rumor in June, saying the 3x camera will stay, and the only changes will be an improvement to the 10x sensor.

Leaker Ice Universe has claimed on X that the Galaxy S24 Ultra will swap out the 10MP 10x periscope camera for a 50MP 5x telephoto camera. The tipster asserts that this is a 1/2.52-inch sensor with tiny, 0.7-micron pixels.

We’ve also heard early rumors that the 10x periscope camera could be upgraded to a variable “folded” lens. Theoretically, this lens could deliver lossless zoom at any level from 5x to 10x. Ice Universe also claimed that Samsung will stick with a 10MP 3x telephoto camera for short-range zoom.

There are conflicting rumors that Samsung could offer a 5x camera on the S24 Ultra.

Meanwhile, a prominent leaker suggests Samsung has some big upgrades in store for the Galaxy S24 series when it comes to the camera software. Yogesh Brar says these changes will be “massive,” although he wasn’t specific on what those changes might be. Whatever happens, expect them to challenge to be the best camera phones as usual.

One of those massive software upgrades could be the ISOCELL Zoom Anyplace feature Samsung announced in late October. The tech giant claims the feature can simultaneously capture close-ups and full-sized video while using AI to track subjects and stabilize shots. This feature is made specifically for the company’s 200MP sensor.

Prominent outlet GalaxyClub claimed on July 21 that the S24 series will retain the 12MP selfie camera seen on the Galaxy S23 range. The outlet also asserted that Samsung wants to keep the punch-hole cutout as small as possible, suggesting that we shouldn’t expect a larger sensor, either. So the company will need to improve image quality via the processor and software.

Other features

The previously mentioned improved display may be used for Ultra HDR, according to a rumor from Ice Universe. Samsung is allegedly working on bringing support for HDR on all three models of the Galaxy S24.

SamMobile also claims Samsung wants the S24 series to be the “smartest AI smartphones ever.” According to the publication’s unnamed sources, the company may achieve this by taking features from ChatGPT and Google Bard to give users the ability to “create content and stories.” Samsung may also create its own in-house text-to-image AI tool for the phones and enhance Bixby with generative AI to make it smarter and more human-like.

In October, tipster Revegnus claimed that Samsung is considering a subscription service for the Galaxy S24’s AI tools. This means users would have to pay to use the Galaxy S24’s arguably key feature.

Revegnus also leaked that Samsung, Qualcomm, and AMD are jointly developing “FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR)” software for Galaxy phones. This technology is similar to NVIDIA’s DLSS in that it uses upscaling and frame generation techniques to boost framerates in supported games. However, unlike DLSS, FSR doesn’t use AI to accomplish these tricks. It’s possible we could see this technology implemented in the S24 series.

Most recently, in November, a rumor appeared suggesting there could be an option for a lock screen shortcut to Instagram. Currently, lock screen shortcuts are mostly reserved for system apps, so this would be a bit of an anomaly.

Finally, a Samsung executive strongly hinted that Galaxy S24 phones could support non-terrestrial networks (NTNs). This would mean at least some Galaxy S24 phones could support satellite messaging, similar to what we’ve seen from iPhones and the Emergency SOS feature.

What could the price be for the Samsung Galaxy S24 series?

• Galaxy S21, S21 Plus, S21 Ultra: $799, $999, $1,199
• Galaxy S22, S22 Plus, S22 Ultra: $799, $999, $1,199
• Galaxy S23, S23 Plus, S23 Ultra: $799, $999, $1,199

As you can see from the list above, Samsung hasn’t altered its Galaxy S pricing strategy in the United States for three straight years. However, the same can’t be said for the rest of the world. In fact, this year, the Galaxy S23 series jumped in price in many prominent places, including the UK and most of Europe.

As such, we can only assume price jumps are in the cards for the United States soon. How much of a jump is a mystery, as is whether or not all three models would see an increase or just the Ultra variant.

Of course, we could be pleasantly surprised and see Samsung stick with the same pricing it’s used for the past three cycles. We’ll have a better idea of this as we get further into 2023 and whether the Galaxy S23 is a better buy.

Should you wait for the Samsung Galaxy S24?

As with most devices, the answer to this question depends on your situation. Based on the leaks and rumors, it sounds like the Galaxy S24 series will have some notable improvements over the previous generation. But will those improvements be enough to justify ditching your current phone for this phone?

If you have a Galaxy S23, it’d probably be better to stick with the phone you have. But if you have a phone older than that, it may be worth it to consider picking this handset up. However, if you need a phone right now, there are plenty of solid alternatives like the just-launched Pixel 8 ( ), the beefier Pixel 8 Pro ( ), or the iPhone 15 Pro Max ( ).

Samsung Galaxy S24 series: What we want to see

Samsung always brings something new to its latest smartphones. However, sometimes it updates things we don’t care about or doesn’t update the things we want to see fixed. Below, you’ll find three things we hope to see with the Galaxy S24 series. We don’t have any evidence to support these things coming or not, but our hopes are high.

Faster charging for all

In the United States, the OnePlus 11 charges at a blazing 80W. That’s fast enough to charge from zero to full in under 30 minutes.

We don’t expect Samsung to reach those heights when it comes to charging speeds on the Galaxy S24 series, unfortunately. Despite Samsung’s good work with the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s 45W charging, the regular Galaxy S23 is still stuck at 25W. With this in mind, we hope to see some advancements from Samsung in this regard.

Historically, Samsung has been on the slower end when it comes to rolling out increased charging speeds. It’s possible this could be lingering unease related to the debacle surrounding the Galaxy Note 7 series (that phone was at risk of exploding due to faulty batteries). We can’t blame the company for being conservative in response to that, but competitors are really slaying the market when it comes to charging, and Samsung can’t stay stagnant for long.

Thankfully, an early rumor suggests we could see faster charging speeds on the Ultra and possibly the Plus model. This would be nice, but we’d like to see faster speeds on all devices, if possible.

Similar pricing

Our friends in Europe and the United Kingdom certainly got some sticker shock this year when Galaxy S23 pricing landed. In Denmark, the top-of-the-line Galaxy S23 Ultra saw a price jump of 3,300 Krone, which is around $480. That’s a significant increase.

So far, the United States has been shielded from these increases. The Galaxy S23 series costs the same as the Galaxy S21 series did when it launched, which is pretty impressive.

In 2024, we hope Samsung can keep this going. The company could get away with increasing the price of the Galaxy S24 Ultra, especially if it significantly improves the camera, as has been rumored. But we hope the base model, the Galaxy S24, stays the same price. That $799 price is the perfect sweet spot for value, and we’d hate for consumers to lose that.

Samsung’s Black Friday sale is in full swing, bringing festive cheer in the form of stunning prices on top tech. We wanted to spotlight the savings to be made on the flagship wearable from the electronics giant, with a new Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 deal reducing the price of the 40mm Wi-Fi model to a tempting $229.99.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 (40mm, Wi-Fi) for $229.99 ($70 off)

Update, November 21, 2023 (02:13 AM ET): YouTube has provided a statement on the issue, clarifying that the issue is related to ad blockers and not with browsers:

To support a diverse ecosystem of creators globally and allow billions to access their favorite content on YouTube, we’ve launched an effort to urge viewers with ad blockers enabled to allow ads on YouTube or try YouTube Premium for an ad free experience. Users who have ad blockers installed may experience suboptimal viewing, regardless of the browser they are using.

This does not completely explain how the five-second delay goes away when using Google Chrome. But it gives us good clarity on the behavior. Users who experience the delay are advised to either allow ads for YouTube or subscribe to YouTube Premium.

Original article, November 20, 2023 (09:19 AM ET): YouTube has been on a monetization push recently, as it began blocking ad-blockers and pushing users to buy YouTube Premium. That move makes sense in many ways, as the platform needs to make money to survive and compensate creators who depend on the platform for their living. But some other actions by YouTube make less sense. Users are now reporting that YouTube has begun slowing down its desktop website for some Firefox and Edge users, and we are perplexed.

Redditor vk6_ has shared a video showing a five-second delay when loading into a YouTube video on Mozilla Firefox. Upon manually changing the user agent on the browser to Chrome, the five-second delay no longer appears. The video has been reproduced below:

Other Redditors have echoed the claim that YouTube videos are slow to load on Firefox and Edge.

Redditor vk6_ further notes that this isn’t a bug on Firefox. The JavaScript code for the YouTube client on the desktop reportedly contains code that adds the artificial five-second delay. Others have chimed in, pointing out the exact place to find this piece of code.

We can confirm that the above-mentioned snippet of code exists. However, we cannot confirm if the code does indeed add a five-second delay after checking for the user’s browser of choice.

You can verify the existence of the code by inspecting this YouTube Javascript file and locating the following snippet of code with the find function (press Ctrl and F to open the finder):

setTimeout(function(){c();a.resolve(1)},5E3);

For me, YouTube works equally well across Chrome, Firefox, and Edge. Other team members also could not replicate this delayed behavior across browsers.

However, multiple users have reported the same across Firefox and Edge. The users claim to have experienced the delay without any extensions enabled, indicating that the delay could be on a per-account basis. The delay also does not trigger just once; it is reportedly triggered every time YouTube links are opened in a new tab.

Certain discussions around the report indicate that the code could be a lazy implementation of an ad fallback if a user uses an ad blocker. The relevant code could possibly be ensuring that an ad is displayed for at least five seconds before the actual video begins showing. As mentioned, we could not confirm the functioning of the code snippet.

We’ve reached out to Google for comments. We’ll update this article once we hear back from them.

We used to get a few early deals ahead of Black Friday, but it’s now the exception if brands wait for the day itself to launch their sales. Apple certainly isn’t holding back, with all models of the AirPods getting significant discounts ahead of Black Friday.

Fans of buds over cans will be keen on the traditional AirPod deals, with the 2nd gen Apple AirPods slashed to just $79.99 right now. Originally selling for $160 but still setting you back around $130 just days ago, this markdown takes the highly rated buds to within $1 of their all-time lowest price. And to give you an idea of how rare such an offer is, that record-low price was set during the Black Friday period last year. If you’d prefer the latest 3rd gen AirPods, that model is available for $139.99 — the joint lowest price ever.

Those working with a bigger budget may be more drawn to the big price drops on the 2nd gen AirPods Pro, which have never been cheaper at $189.99 ($59 off), or the $100 discount on the flagship headphones, the Apple Airpods Max. These luxurious headphones are available for $449.99 right now.

Is Apple planning any further cuts on this high-end audio hardware? You could wait and see. Our guess is that this is as good as the AirPods Black Friday deals are going to get, and delaying may leave others to snaffle up the stock. We’ll be sure to keep you updated if we see prices falling further. You can also find a bunch of accessories for your AirPods on sale if you hit the button below.

The Samsung Galaxy S22 series was one of the best Android phones upon its release, and it only got dethroned by the newer Galaxy S23 series. Samsung provides long software support for its phones, ensuring the phone has a good life beyond the first year of release. The company is now rolling out One UI 6 based on Android 14 to the Galaxy S22 series in the stable branch, so you can now be on the latest version of Android without any fuss of betas.

As per user reports, Samsung has begun rolling out the One UI 6 updates for Galaxy S22 users. The rollout has already started for users in Europe first, with the reports mentioning Galaxy S22 Ultra specifically. We presume the same is also rolling out to the Galaxy S22 and Galaxy S22 Plus.

The update is version DWK4 and comes with the November 2023 security patches. Since this is a major platform update, it comes in at a cool 3.1GB in size.

Samsung usually does staged rollouts. If no critical bugs are spotted, the update will be rolled out gradually to more users in more regions. If you have a Galaxy S22 series smartphone, you can check for updates at Settings > Software update > Check for software updates.

One UI 6 includes new features, such as significant visual changes in the Quick Settings panel, the Lockscreen, and the Notification panel, a new Studio video editor app, a new Auto Blocker setting to improve your phone’s security, and other smaller changes.

OnePlus will launch the OnePlus 12 in China before the rest of the world. The company has confirmed on Chinese social media platform Weibo that its next flagship will arrive on December 4 at 7 PM local time (6 AM ET). The phone’s announcement will be the star of OnePlus’ tenth-anniversary celebrations. The company was founded by Pete Lau and Carl Pei in December 2013.

OnePlus hasn’t confirmed a global launch date for the phone. The OnePlus 11 launched in January this year, with a global unveil that followed in February. With the OnePlus 12 coming in almost a month earlier than its predecessor, we may see the new phone hit shelves globally as early as January 2024.

The OnePlus 12 will bring all kinds of new hardware on board. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is already confirmed and so is a new primary camera sensor and a 64MP periscope lens. The phone is also confirmed to sport a 2K resolution “ProXDR” display.

Other expected specs include a 32MP selfie sensor, a 5,400mAh battery with 100W wired charging, and 50W wireless charging support.

The drama around OpenAI is coming to a close, hopefully. OpenAI has a new CEO in Emmett Shear, while its ex-CEO Sam Altman and ex-President Greg Brockman have now joined Microsoft.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella made the announcement that Sam Altman, the ousted CEO of OpenAI and largely credited for its success, has now joined Microsoft.

Greg Brockman and other colleagues have also joined Sam Altman at Microsoft. Altman and Brockman will lead a new advanced AI research team at the company. Other prominent employees joining them would be senior researchers Jakub Pachocki, Aleksander Madry, and Szymon Sidor, all of whom had also resigned after Altman’s exit.

Microsoft is also continuing forward with its OpenAI investments, displaying confidence in its product roadmap under the guidance of OpenAI’s new leadership team, which will comprise of Emmett Shear as the new CEO.

OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, has been at the center of a lot of drama. On Friday, its Board of Directors fired the then-CEO Sam Altman, reportedly over internal disagreements about AI safety and speed of development. They then elevated the Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati as interim CEO. Mira Murati reportedly wanted to bring Altman back to the company alongside Brockman, who had resigned following Altman’s exit.

On the other hand, OpenAI investors had urged the Board of Directors to step down and reinstate Altman. However, the Board of Directors appointed Twitch’s ex-CEO Emmett Shear as the new CEO, closing the door on Altman and charting the path for his appointment at Microsoft.

It is not immediately clear how many people will be leaving OpenAI to join Microsoft. It also remains to be seen how OpenAI will manage its business commitments with several key individuals departing the company in such a manner.

The refresh rate on Apple’s non-Pro iPhones is still stuck in circa 2016 when 60Hz was the norm. The Razr phone flipped that switch in 2017, and Android devices haven’t looked back since. 120Hz displays are now standard on all Android flagships, but Apple’s ultra-premium iPhone 15 and 15 Plus still feature an antiquated 60Hz refresh rate. Looks like things won’t get any better for Apple fans next year.

According to a leak (via Revegnus) that dishes out the display specs of the iPhone 16 series, the vanilla and Plus models in the lineup will still feature 60Hz displays. The information lines up with what display analyst Ross Young previously claimed. As per Young, Apple will only bring high refresh rate screens to base iPhones in 2025. So if you were hoping to pick up a cheaper non-Pro iPhone next year and expecting a refresh rate upgrade, you’d probably have to wait another year for the iPhone 17 series to fulfill your wishes.

The latest leak also outs the alleged display sizes of the iPhone 16 series and claims that the base model will feature a 6.12-inch screen and the Plus variant will get a 6.69-inch display. Both iPhone 16 Pro models are expected to feature slightly larger 120Hz screens — 6.27 inches for the iPhone 16 Pro and 6.69 inches for the iPhone 16 Pro Max. All phones in the lineup are expected to feature a Dynamic Island.

OpenAI, the company behind the wildly successful ChatGPT, has been embroiled in drama since Friday after its Board of Directors fired the then-CEO Sam Altman, reportedly over internal disagreements about AI safety and speed of development. The Board then appointed OpenAI’s Chief Technology Officer, Mira Murati, as the interim CEO. After a weekend of CEO responsibilities, OpenAI’s Board has chosen a new CEO, Emmett Shear, with Sam Altman unlikely to return to the company.

Emmett Shear is best known for being the CEO of Twitch, a post he resigned from in March 2023 after building Twitch up into one of the most popular video streaming platforms. And now, he shall be leading OpenAI, as per a report from Bloomberg. OpenAI’s Board chose Shear as he “appeared to recognize the existential threats that AI presented.”

According to journalist Kara Swisher, interim CEO Mira Murati wanted Sam Altman and OpenAI’s President Greg Brockman back (who had also resigned following Altman’s exit announcement), albeit in undisclosed capacities. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella was also involved in these talks, backing Altman’s return. OpenAI investors and key employees of the company had urged the Board of Directors to step down and reinstate Altman. However, as is now the case, the OpenAI Board has hired Emmett Shear for the top job, closing the door for Altman’s return.

Sam Altman seemingly alluded to the same in his latest tweet, mentioning that it is the “first and last time” he is wearing a guest badge at OpenAI. However, note that the tweet was posted before it came to light that OpenAI had hired Emmett Shear.

Kara Swisher mentions that Microsoft is interested in getting Altman onboard in some capacity, and many OpenAI employees are also expected to follow along. There is also speculation that the Board of Directors at OpenAI would be sued and that Microsoft could reconsider its deal with the AI-centric company.

This is unlikely to be the end of the OpenAI leadership drama. We’ll get to know more soon in the coming week as the world reacts to this latest development.

Google Maps is now widely rolling out its new color palette, and users are understandably annoyed. While the changes aren’t too drastic, the new Google Maps colors have taken users by surprise and left them feeling unsettled.

Reddit and Twitter are filled with arguments against Google’s new color choices. Roads that were once depicted with a white color are now gray. The blue color of water bodies is now significantly paler, while forested areas are a darker shade of green than before. The route indicator is also a much brighter and jarring blue. To those who have been using Google Maps for years, these changes are disturbing.

“Not a fan. Just didn’t like them when I started seeing them a week or so ago. Not as easy to read for me. I’d switch back to the old colors if I could,” said one Reddit user.

“Classic Google changes what was totally fine and makes it worse for no apparent reason,” said another.

Users feel roads are hard to see now in Google Maps when you’re not fairly zoomed in. The biggest complaint that people have is that the new colors make it difficult to view details on the map because they’re extremely washed out.

It’s unclear why Google suddenly decided to switch colors in Google Maps, but perhaps angry users can convince the company to revert to the older colors.

Nothing recently made a big deal about its new iMessage-compatible texting platform called Nothing Chats. It even promised that messages sent over the service, which is powered by Sunbird, are end-to-end encrypted and not stored on any servers. However, multiple investigations have now proved that Nothing and Sunbird’s security claims are utterly false. Nothing has also pulled the app from the Play Store and delayed its official launch.

We’ve removed the Nothing Chats beta from the Play Store and will be delaying the launch until further notice to work with Sunbird to fix several bugs.

The pre-order and sales schedule of the Samsung Galaxy S24 series has leaked. According to The Elec, Samsung has apparently confirmed a January 17 launch for the Galaxy S24 lineup. We checked all of Samsung’s official sources to see if the company has made an announcement regarding the upcoming launch, but it seems this information is exclusive to publication.

The January 17 date for the Galaxy S24 series launch had also leaked previously. What we didn’t know was when the new flagships would go on sale. According to the latest report, Samsung will begin sales for the Galaxy S24, S24 Plus, and S24 Ultra immediately after the launch. That means you can expect pre-orders to start on January 17 itself.

The report goes on to reveal that those who pre-order the new Samsung phones will start receiving their devices between January 26 and January 30. General sales for the Galaxy S24 series are expected to commence on January 30.

Samsung reportedly moved up the launch of the Galaxy S24 series by fifteen days to better compete with the iPhone 15 series and improve its first-quarter financial performance. The new devices are said to bring several on-device AI-assisted features, including a new universal assistant called Galaxy AI.

OpenAI has been on a bit of a rollercoaster over the last 48 hours. On Friday, Open AI announced it had fired CEO Sam Altman. After major upheavals following the announcement, the board that fired him is now in talks to bring him back.

According to The Verge, multiple sources close to the matter say the OpenAI board is in discussions with Altman to return as CEO. However, Altman is reportedly “ambivalent” about coming back to the company and wants significant governance changes.

The initial decision to ouster Altman came after a “deliberative review process” which found that Altman “was not consistently candid in his communications,” the ChatGPT creator states. The company went on to say that Altman’s lack of candidness was “hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities.”

Shortly after Altman was fired, co-founder and president Greg Brockman revealed on X (formerly Twitter) that he had quit due to the news. He was also followed by a number of senior researchers. A few hours later, Brockman shared he and Altman were notified of their removal from the board by board member, co-founder, and chief scientist Ilya Sutskever.

It appears that the board may have agreed in principle to resign and let Altman and Brockman come back, according to sources close to Altman. However, the publication says the board missed a 5 PM PT deadline by which a number of OpenAI employees were ready to walk.

Sutskever, the leader of OpenAI’s researchers and the person who notified Altman and Brockman of their removal, reportedly played a big role in Altman’s unexpected firing. Bloomberg and The Information have reported that internal disagreements about AI safety and speed of development may have been the motivational factor behind the move.

It was predictable that the Echo Show range would feature in Amazon’s Black Friday sale, but the discounts on offer are surprisingly deep. Not only are many of the smart displays at record-low prices, but you can add in a second smart device for free or at very little cost.

A prime example is the new Echo Show 5. Released earlier this year, the third generation of this home assistant is better than ever, thanks to a faster processor, an additional microphone, and improved audio, among other things. Usually retailing for $90, you can get the standalone device for only $39.99 right now, although you might want to consider the bundle deals first. The same $39.99 price can get you both the Echo Show 5 and a TP-Link Kasa smart color bulb. You end up saving 64% on the pair.

Here are some other great Echo Black Friday deals:

• Echo Show 5 (3rd Gen) Kids for $44.99 ($55 off)
• Echo Show 5 (3rd Gen) with Blink Mini for $44.99 ($80 off)
• Echo Show 8 (3rd Gen) for $104.99 ($45 off)
• Echo Show 8 (3rd Gen) with TP-Link Kasa Smart Color Bulb for $104.99 ($68 off)
• Echo Show 10 (3rd Gen) for $159.99 ($90 off)
• Echo Show 10 (3rd Gen) with Ring A19 Smart LED Bulb for $159.99 ($105 off)

Two smart devices for just $40 coul answer your holiday gifting prayers, so don’t let stock dwindle. The button below shows you the full range of Echo Show Black Friday deals.

Sony launched the PlayStation 5 during the holiday season of 2020. Not only was the PS5 more powerful than the PS4, but it also offered a variety of features not available in the prior generation, like a high-speed SSD, hardware-accelerated ray tracing, 3D audio support, and more. Not to mention, the new DualSense was the biggest departure in PlayStation’s history regarding controller design.

Now that we’re three years in, going into the fourth year, it would be safe to assume we’re about at the halfway point of the generation’s lifecycle. As such, it’s about time to start thinking about what Sony has in store for us next. What innovations could Sony bring to its sixth-generation console? There are already leaks and rumors spreading about, and in this PS6 rumor hub, we’ll tell you all about them. Here’s everything we know about the PlayStation 6 so far.

Will there be a PS6?

Until we reach a place where games can be streamed without reliability questions, latency problems, and so on, the need for new consoles will always be there. Although Sony hasn’t acknowledged the existence of a sixth-generation PlayStation, the company is undoubtedly working on its development. We won’t likely hear about the PS6 until we’re at least a year away from its release, and we’re probably a few years out from that.

Will there be more than one model?

When the PS5 launched, Sony offered two versions of the system — one with a disc drive and one without. The disc-less Digital Edition sold for $100 less than the disc version to give buyers a cheaper option. At the moment, it’s difficult to tell if Sony will do the same for the release of the PS6. More people than ever are exclusively buying digital copies rather than physical ones. And given that the new version of the PS5 Digital Edition can be fitted with an attachable disc drive, this may give us a hint at Sony’s future strategy.

It’s possible that Sony could opt to make a single all-digital PS6. However, Sony may design the console in a way that allows customers to attach a disc drive, which would be available for sale separately. Of course, this is all speculation, and we’ll get a better idea of what to expect the closer we get to release time.

What is the expected PS6 release date?

• PlayStation 3 — November 11, 2006
• PlayStation 4 — November 15, 2013
• PlayStation 5 — November 12, 2020

When it comes to game consoles, it’s usually not too hard to predict launch windows, especially when it comes to the PlayStation. On average, console lifecycles last anywhere between six to 10 years. For Sony, in particular, the company tends to lean closer to six or seven, with seven being the more common choice. Sony also almost always releases its new systems in the month of November to get ahead of holiday shopping. The only times it didn’t was for the original console and the PS2, but they released only a month later in December.

With this knowledge, it’s safe to assume the PS6 will be released in November. And there’s a possibility it will come out in 2026 or 2027. Sony’s Executive VP of Hardware Engineering, Masayasu Ito, also confirmed in an interview with Game Informer that the PS5’s lifecycle is expected to be six to seven years. However, the company could choose to extend the PS5’s lifecycle by an extra year, according to Microsoft.

During Microsoft’s court fight to acquire Activision Blizzard, leaked documents (via IGN) tipped that Microsoft expects Sony to release the hardware in late 2027 or 2028. Of course, there’s only so much that Microsoft can know about what decisions are being made within Sony. But because Microsoft predicts a longer PS5 cycle, we’re inclined to believe the most likely release date for the PS6 could be November 2027.

What rumored specs and features could the PS6 have?

With the launch likely being years away, it’s a little early to start talking about specs and features. But we’ll try to scrape together what little information we have about the PS6 and provide more information as it becomes available.

Design

The PS5 was a drastic change in Sony’s typical design philosophy. It’s anyone’s guess as to what the company’s next console will look like. But a rumor floating around the internet claims that Mark Cerny — lead architect of the PS5 — will be back at the helm.

If we had to venture a guess right now, we would suspect that the PS6 will be smaller than the PS5. When the PS5 launched, it earned the title of the largest game console of all time. The console is so large, in fact, that it spawned memes about how people were unable to fit the system into their entertainment centers. It would be hard to believe that Sony would choose to make the system even bigger than that.

Specs

The PS6 will be more powerful than the PS5; that’s usually the point of new generations. But what will the next-gen console have under the hood that gives it that extra oomph? As with many other sections in this rumor hub, there aren’t enough PS6 leaks or rumors to form a solid guess at the moment. However, it could help to point out what the PS5 is working with.

The PS5 uses a 3.5GHz eight-core AMD Zen 2 for its CPU with a custom AMD RDNA 2-based GPU. There’s also 16GB of GDDR6 RAM with an 825GB custom SSD. Additionally, it has support for 120Hz output for 4K and 8K TVs and variable refresh rate (VRR). You can see a full breakdown in our PS5 specs list.

Sony could choose to upgrade each of these specs or only a few of them. We’ll just have to wait a little longer and see what PS6 leaks come our way.

Features

The PS5 comes equipped with countless features, many of which will probably find their way into the PS6. Sony will most certainly include new features along with those existing features as well. But at this stage, it’s too early to tell what Sony will stuff into its next system. A few possible candidates could include storage expansion, backwards compatibility, 3D audio (Tempest and/or Dolby Atmos), and cloud streaming.

Something else we could end up seeing is more PlayStation Link integration. PlayStation Link is a proprietary wireless audio connectivity standard created by Sony. It’s said to offer lossless low-latency audio, multi-device connections, and other benefits over Bluetooth. Sony adopted the standard — while neglecting Bluetooth — in its PlayStation Portal, Pulse Explore earbuds, and Pulse Elite headset. There’s a good chance Sony wants to incorporate this technology in its next console to have a more connected ecosystem. Unfortunately, this also means bad news for anyone who wants to use their current Bluetooth earbuds or headphones.

Given the current frenzy over AI, it wouldn’t be much of a surprise if Sony was considering incorporating AI into its next system in some sort of way. We could see this come in the form of something like helping players get hints for the games, similar to how Google was planning to use Google Assistant for the now-defunct Stadia. Although it’s controversial, it’s possible we may even see the technology leak into the games we play. For example, NVIDIA showed off a demo in early 2023 of a conversational AI-powered NPC. Xbox also recently partnered with AI NPC creator Inworld this year.

Sony has filed a number of interesting patents, with some of the more notable ones related to potential controller features. The most recent patent described a controller that could double as an earbuds charging case. Another patent imagined a controller that could change temperature and deform. Like with any patent, however, there’s no guarantee Sony will move forward with any of these ideas.

What might the PS6 price be?

• PlayStation 3 — $499
• PlayStation 4 — $399
• PlayStation 5 disc/digital edition — $499/$399

No official price has been given yet, and we don’t expect that to happen anytime soon. It’s also too early for any leaks or even rumors about the price to be floating around. As such, all we can do at the moment is speculate.

For the last couple of generations, the starting price of PlayStation consoles has been between $399-$499. This is the range both Sony and its closest competitor — Microsoft — tend to target when launching a new console. And ever since the poor reception of the $600 60GB PS3, the company has tried its best to steer away from that price point.

Taking all of this into account, we don’t see Sony moving away from this strategy. So, the price of the PS6 will most likely be no lower than $399 and no higher than $599.

Should you wait for the PS6?

As with any decision involving money, whether you should wait for the PS6 depends on time and your situation. For example, the PS6 is likely years away from release, so if you currently have a PS4 or Xbox One and want to upgrade, it would probably be better for you to just get a PS5 or Xbox Series X|S. On the other hand, if you have a PC or Xbox Series X|S and are fine with waiting, then you might as well wait for a PS6.

At this time, the answer will almost always be no; you shouldn’t wait. But that will change once we get a year or two out from release. As mentioned before, we’re about halfway in the lifecycle right now, so it will be a while until that status quo changes.

If you need an alternative to the PS6, you may want to consider the Xbox Series X ( ). Or you could opt for the OLED Nintendo Switch ( ). Valve also released an OLED version of the Steam Deck that offers a number of improvements over the original ( ).

In a surprising turn of events, Sam Altman was fired on Friday from his role as CEO of OpenAI. The shocking decision was announced following a “deliberative review process by the board,” which found that Altman was not “consistently candid” in his dealings with other board members. In a blog post published by the Open AI board, this lack of transparency was deemed to hinder the board’s ability to effectively fulfill its responsibilities.

On Twitter, Altman expressed his love for his time at OpenAI and hinted at future plans​​. Alongside Altman’s departure, Greg Brockman, a co-founder of OpenAI, who initially stepped down as chairman of the board, also announced he would leave the company completely hours later. Mira Murati, who was previously the CTO of Open AI, is now interim CEO.

Altman’s removal was unexpected, especially given his recent active role in shaping regulatory responses to AI and his involvement in high-profile events and discussions related to AI policy​​. Altman have very much been the public face of Open AI. Over the last year he oversaw the explosive growth of transformative AI products like ChatGPT and Dall-E.

The specific reasons for his departure are unclear. Bloomberg and The Information reported Altman’s ousting is related to internal disagreements about AI safety and speed of development. According to The Verge, Open AI chief scientist and co-founder Ilya Sutskever was “instrumental” in the move to push Altman out.

Altman will remain a major figure in the world of AI one way or the other. We wouldn’t be surprised to see him announce a new company soon.

When Nothing announced Nothing Chats, the company claimed its new Phone 2 messaging platform was end-to-end encrypted. Although Nothing insists that its app is private and secure, new findings suggest it is less secure than we initially thought.

Nothing Chats is built on the Sunbird app’s architecture but is designed by Nothing. It is meant to give the Phone 2 compatibility with the iPhone’s iMessage app. To do this, users are required to sign into the app with an Apple ID, which then assigns your account to a virtual instance of one of Sunbird’s Mac Minis. This tricks an iPhone into thinking it is communicating with another Apple device (we tested the Nothing Chat service for ourselves).

This brought up concerns that users would need to place their trust in a third party to keep their Apple ID data and password safe. However, a spokesperson for Nothing clarified that after you log into the app the first time, “credentials are tokenized in an encrypted database” and “cannot be accessed by Sunbird or anyone else even if they had access to the physical server itself.”

Now that the app is publically available for download, users are discovering other security issues. Kishan Bagaria, founder of Texts.com, had his team investigate the app and found the app is sending information over hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) instead of hypertext transfer protocol secure (HTTPS).

texts team took a quick look at the tech behind nothing chats and found out it’s extremely insecure

it’s not even using HTTPS, credentials are sent over plaintext HTTP

backend is running an instance of BlueBubbles, which doesn’t support end-to-end encryption yet pic.twitter.com/IcWyIbKE86

— Kishan Bagaria (@KishanBagaria) November 17, 2023

The Texts team also discovered the term “bluebubbles,” suggesting Sunbird is piggybacking its app on the technology developed by BlueBubbles, a rival service that also allows for iMessage access through Android.

However, after this discovery was made, Nothing issued this statement to 9to5Google:

While the protocol is HTTP, all data is encrypted and the key used to encrypt that data is provided via HTTPS so Apple credentials or messages sent via that HTTP request are secure and not open to the public. All sensitive user data such as Apple ID credentials and messages are encrypted at all times. The HTTP is only used as part of the one-off initial request from the app notifying the back-end of the upcoming iMessage connection iteration that will follow via a stand alone communication channel.

Regarding the other part of his tweet, years ago when the servers were being built Sunbird’s co-founder named them Blue Bubbles. Sunbird/Chats is not using an instance of anyone else’s technology – the naming is strictly coincidence.

Additionally, I want to add that from the start, that Sunbird has been focused on security and its ISO27001 certification (Certificate Number: IA-2023-09-21-01), an internationally recognized specification for an information security management system, is a reflection of its commitment to user privacy.

At the end of the day, you’ll need to decide for yourself if you trust Sunbird and Nothing in light of these revelations. Besides, now that Apple has announced it will support RCS in 2024, these apps are on borrowed time anyway.