Author: zppiot
You have to be a Pixel user to understand why this is big news. The first Pixel I owned was the Pixel 2 XL, a brilliantly understated flagship phone. I then switched to the iPhone 11 Pro Max but fell so hemmed in by iOS that I bought the Pixel 6 Pro which was a mistake on my part. After a year of dealing with an underpowered phone with poor battery life, I returned to the iPhone 11 Pro Max until the launch of the iPhone 15 line and I purchased the iPhone 15 Pro Max.My experience with the Pixel…
Recently we’ve heard about a hack that could allow a person to unlock 3 million hotel room doors in 161 countries around the world by using an Android phone. The door locks, susceptible to the hack, are locked using RFID, a radio wave tech. RFID and NFC have lots in common, though. The revealed hack has us questioning NFC – which is present on almost all modern phones. Is it secure? Let’s explore. NFC and RFID: differences In the hack we mentioned earlier, the hacker could take advantage of the RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) system that was used to lock…
After Elon Musk’s xAI decided to make its Grok large language model open source earlier in March, the X owner now announced that the former Twitter will soon make the Grok chatbot available to more paying subscribers.Where else but on X, Musk revealed that starting this week, Grok will be accessible to Premium subscribers. The chatbot won’t be restricted solely to those on the higher-end tier, Premium+, as it was before.This shift could mean that X wants to go head-to-head with other popular chatbots like OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Google’s Gemini. Yet, it might also show that X is looking to boost…
There is good news and bad news for Pixel users as Google marked on its Issue Tracker website that it has fixed the “scrolling stutter” issue that impacted several Pixel users. While fixing the issue is certainly good news, the bad news is that users might not see the “scrolling stutter” end on their Pixel until Android 15 is released later this year between August and October.Google notes that “Ongoing optimizations in performance and power are slated for the next Android release. These include improvements positively impacting overall system UI jank as well as use cases tied to some Android…
See, while I wear my Pixel Watch 2 every day, I’m not sure I’d call myself a “smartwatch person” just yet. The reason being I could also go without my smartwatch.In fact, my primary phone is an iPhone, so the only reason I get to keep using my Pixel Watch 2 is because I have Android phones sitting on my desk (the Pixel 8 Pro in particular). The $1,000 Pixel 8 Pro that sits on my desk syncs with the Pixel Watch 2 and… makes it work. Otherwise I’d have to switch to Android, and no one is crazy enough…
Does Apple dominate the smartwatch market because of a monopoly or because of strong customer support?Graphs released today by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners, LLC (CIRP) are a double-edged sword since they might show that iPhone owners simply enjoy the Apple ecosystem and thus would rather purchase, say, the Apple Watch over other timepieces that support iOS. Or, does this data prove that Apple is doing things with the iPhone to prevent competing watches from getting bought? Apple dominates the smartwatch market among iPhone users. This is no surprise The DOJ, in its filing, says that Apple “degrades” the performance of…
Let’s face it – planning a vacation can be a real challenge. Where do you even start? What should you see? Where are the best places to grab a bite? It’s enough to make you want to stay home. Well, Google Maps just stepped in with a big helping hand, and their recent updates should come in really handy next time you want to plan to travel. Let me break it down for you.It’s all about the lists and recommendationsYou know that feeling when you’re staring at a map, totally overwhelmed because you don’t know exactly what to search for?…
Apple users are targets of a new attack that aims to take over all of their devices.KrebsOnSecurity reports that many users have complained of a phishing attack that makes Apple devices display an annoying number of system-level prompts. The attack makes the devices unusable until “Allow” or “Don’t Allow” is selected for each prompt.The attackers might be relying on a glitch in Apple’s password reset mechanism but nothing can be said for certain at the moment. Apparently, the attackers are operating with the hope that sooner or later a user would tap on “Allow” after incessant password reset requests, either willingly…
Xfinity Mobile just completely restructured their unlimited plans. Out with the old Intro, Plus, and Premium plans and in with something that saves you money while also upgrading your data.Xfinity has just launched two new mobile plans to replace their old offerings. Their streamlined “Unlimited” plan kicks off at just $40 a month for one line with 30GB of data, with the price going up to $60, $80, and $100 for 2, 3, or 4 lines respectively.Need more speed and data? The new “Unlimited Plus” option might be a better fit with 50GB of data. It starts at $50 for…
If you rely on your Google Pixel phone to wake you up in the morning, you’ll want to pay attention to this. There’s currently a strange bug within Google Assistant that can unintentionally get you off to a late start.The bug was initially exposed by Artem Russakovskii, who discovered that a whopping 50+ of his alarms had been wiped clean. Even inactive alarms were unexpectedly deleted. To make matters worse, this happened after a simple attempt to turn off an alarm on a speaker in a different room. Replicating the issue only confirmed this wasn’t an isolated incident, as documented…
Samsung is looking to continue employing the “dual-chipset” system it used this year for 2025’s Galaxy S25 flagship series. Let’s look ahead by first looking back, shall we? Back in 2023, Samsung did not design or produce an Exynos 2300 chipset and the Exynos 2200 SoC was not a good choice for Samsung’s 2023 flagship phones. So all Galaxy S23 series models including the Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23+, and the Galaxy S23 Ultra were equipped with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy application processor (AP).This year, Samsung had an improved Exynos 2400 AP in its holster and the company…
This expansion of the feature to the Pixel 7 series was a sore subject among owners of the more expensive and almost equally spec’d Pixel Fold. At an MSRP of $1800 upon launch, there was no conceivable reason why Google’s top of the line foldable would be left out. Yours truly was among one of the Pixel Fold owners who were beside themselves when I saw my much newer device getting passed over for a much older generation Pixel.Thankfully, these concerns are now being addressed. In a blog post today, Google ever so casually dropped the news that starting this…
Google is adding a new premium Pixel 9 model to the two that have been expected. 91mobiles reports that in addition to the Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro, Google will offer a third Pixel 9 phone this fall, the Pixel 9 Pro XL which brings back the XL branding that Google used for its premium handsets up until the Pixel 6 series was released in 2021. Additionally, Onleaks and 91mobiles also released a new render of the Pixel 9.The Pixel 9 will feature a flat frame including a rear camera bar hosting two cameras. Earlier renders released in January…
While navigation apps are incredibly helpful, their constant GPS usage and background processes can take a toll on your phone’s battery life. And let’s face it, battery life is super important, especially on the road. So, it’s definitely an upside for an app to be battery-sufficient. GPS usage: The core function of navigation apps relies on GPS, which consumes significant battery. Frequent location updates further drain the batteryScreen brightness: A bright screen, especially during daytime navigation, contributes to battery drainData usage: Apps that rely on live traffic updates or real-time rerouting require constant data connection, impacting battery lifeBackground processes: Some…
WhatsApp is introducing a feature that finally gives its users the ability to choose the default media upload quality. This feature, now available to some beta testers on version 2.24.7.17, puts the power back on the user on how detailed they want their pictures and videos to look when they arrive at the other end.If you have used WhatsApp for any amount of time, or any messaging app for that matter, you surely have gone through the woes of sending an image or video that looks like a blurred mess. This can be quite frustrating, particularly when sharing what could very…
Plug-in hybrids are supposed to be the best of both worlds—the convenience of a gas-powered car with the climate benefits of a battery electric vehicle. But new data suggests that some official figures severely underestimate the emissions they produce. According to new real-world driving data from Europe, plug-in hybrids produce roughly 3.5 times the emissions official estimates suggest. The difference is largely linked to driver habits: people tend to charge plug-in hybrids and drive them in electric mode less than expected. It’s important to close the gap between expectations and reality not only for individuals’ sake, but also to ensure…