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Dark Green is the only confirmed color detail from Samsung's entire 2026 foldable lineup. It belongs to the Fold 8 Wide. Galaxy Z Fold 8 and Flip 8 colors remain unconfirmed, with a reported July 22 Unpacked event now less than a month away. In a cycle where hardware changes are modest across the board, the absence of color information is itself a data point worth examining.

Google rolled out a one-click Gemini Google Sheets formula fixer, giving users a way to diagnose and repair broken formulas without leaving the cell or writing a prompt. When an error appears, a single click prompts Gemini to return both a plain-English explanation of the problem and a corrected formula ready to drop in. The catch: the feature is locked to paid tiers, and Google's own benchmark evidence doesn't directly measure what the tool actually does.

Code found in Google Photos v7.81 points to an unreleased feature called Moods, an AI-powered styling tool that could restyle a photo with a single tap. Android Authority reported the references in an APK teardown of Google Photos v7.81, and the technical details suggest Moods would work differently from standard filters and many existing editing tools.

Samsung has officially acknowledged the Exynos 2700 for what appears to be the first time, with an executive stating development is on track and the chip is headed for "top-tier" smartphones, Android Authority reported this week. The Galaxy S27 was not named specifically, but Samsung's flagship chips have always debuted on the Galaxy S series, making the connection a reasonable inference rather than a stated commitment.

Three Google system components on Samsung Galaxy phones have pending updates that do not appear on the Play Store's "Manage apps & device" screen, the same screen most users check to confirm everything is current. The components are Android System SafetyCore, Android System WebView, and Google Play Services. Both SamMobile and Android Authority confirmed the available updates today. Each one requires a separate manual check to find and install.

ETOE opened pre-orders today for the Dolphin 2, a portable Google TV projector that combines a 54Wh built-in battery with certified Google TV, bringing Netflix, YouTube, Prime Video, and Disney+ without any external streaming hardware. Early-bird pricing sits at $927 in the US and €799 in Europe through June 28, with units shipping in early July, according to the ETOE press release.

Google is testing a Chrome behavior that would send every address-bar query straight into AI Mode, bypassing standard Search entirely. The Google Search AI Mode Chrome test surfaced in the Canary build earlier this month, and while Google moved quickly to call it an accident, its existence lands at an awkward moment: a federal court has spent the last year dismantling the exact kind of default-setting arrangements that would make such a feature legally sensitive.

Samsung has launched five new gaming monitors under the 2026 Odyssey name, headlined by what the company calls the industry's first 6K gaming monitor. The Samsung 2026 Odyssey G8 and G7 lineup is on sale now at prices from $949.99 to $1,599.99, per Samsung's U.S. Newsroom. No independent panel testing was available at publication; buyers are working from specs alone.

Global smartwatch shipments fell 2% year over year in Q1 2025, while Samsung's shipments dropped 18%, according to Counterpoint data reported by Android Central. That was not just a bad quarter for wearables. China's smartwatch market grew 37% in the same period, and Huawei and Xiaomi both posted shipment gains.

Google has ended production of the Nest Mini and Nest Audio. A single $99.99 Google Home Speaker now replaces both devices, which means Google's smart speaker lineup no longer has anything below $99.99, roughly $50 more than the Nest Mini's $49 entry price, according to SoundGuys. The Nest Mini and Nest Audio are discontinued: two products gone, one replacement announced, and a meaningful gap left at the affordable end of the market.

Samsung appears to have briefly posted a full product page for the unannounced Galaxy A27 5G on its Czech Republic website before pulling it down. The listing, according to Los40, citing SamMobile, makes months of Galaxy A27 5G renders look far less speculative: It points to a cleaner design, a Snapdragon chip, four color options, six OS upgrades and six years of security updates, and one notable durability downgrade.

Tap an app on your Galaxy Watch. The splash screen appears, holds for a few seconds, then the watch drops you back to the app drawer. No error, no explanation, no app. A Galaxy Watch 8 Classic user reported exactly that failure on Reddit, with Gmail, Google Calendar, and WhatsApp all refusing to open. Neither Samsung nor Google has said anything publicly about the Galaxy Watch apps not opening problem.

Google is moving WhatsApp backup controls out of WhatsApp's own menus and into Android's system settings. A Play services update rolling out today, v26.23, will let users manage WhatsApp chat backups in Android settings directly, placing those controls alongside the phone's other backup options rather than buried inside the app, Android Authority reported.

Google started rolling out two Google Vids updates on June 17, 2026: users can now extend existing Veo clips into longer sequences with consistent characters and start multiple video generations at the same time instead of waiting for each one to finish, according to Google Workspace Updates. The features are available across a wide range of eligible Google Workspace, education, consumer, nonprofit, and add-on accounts, though access still depends on Google's plan eligibility rules.

That small green dot in the top-right corner of your Samsung phone is a privacy indicator, not a bug. It means an app is using your camera, microphone, or both. If you also see a faint flicker near the top of the screen during calls, that is usually something else: the proximity sensor.

The Pixel Watch June 2026 update is rolling out now to Pixel Watch 2, 3, and 4, and the most consequential change is one that fixes a problem users have been complaining about since Gemini launched on the watch: Raise to Talk was unreliable. It would cut off mid-sentence, time out before users finished speaking, or simply fail to activate. Google says an improved gesture recognition model addresses that. Three other confirmed changes ship alongside it: a rebuilt Contacts app, Remote Media...

Google began rolling out Android 17 to supported Pixel devices on June 16, 2026, and the update includes a dedicated gaming interface designed for foldable inner displays. The Android 17 foldable gaming mode is confirmed and built into the OS, but it is not user-accessible yet.

Gemini Live App Redesign: What Changes for Android Users

Chrome 150, expected around June 30, removes one of the last internal flags that allowed determined users to keep old Manifest V2 ad blockers alive in Chrome. Chrome 151, expected in July, removes the remaining cleanup code tied to the old extension platform.

Nothing adds cloud backup to Essential Space: what to verify

A Google employee confirmed this week that the company has been investigating a Google Pixel bootloop issue tied to its March, April, and May 2026 software updates, with devices freezing on the G logo or crashing immediately after PIN entry. The acknowledgement covers the Pixel 6 through Pixel 10 series, and the public issue tracker has accumulated close to 800 entries since March, according to heise. Google says updated guidance is now available.

Strava rolled out a broad set of new hiking features covering route planning, offline navigation, off-route alerts, and route following on Apple Watch. The features that matter most on an unfamiliar trail, planning where to go, staying on route, and navigating without cell service all sit behind the subscription paywall. Free users get a more capable recording screen and better social tools. Subscribers get the navigation suite.

Waze is starting to show traffic light icons for some drivers, bringing the navigation app closer to Google Maps and Apple Maps on one basic road cue: knowing when a signalized intersection is ahead. The feature is now appearing for more users after months of testing, but it is not showing up for everyone yet, according to 9to5Google.

Strava was recently down, with the company confirming an outage affecting login, the main website, and the My Routes feature. Investigation is ongoing. No cause or resolution timeline has been provided.

Gemini for Google Home Update: Faster Responses and Privacy Tradeoffs

Pixel 9a Warranty Repair Charge: How a Disputed Quote Closed a Case

Huawei has set a firm date. The company published an official notice today confirming it will raise prices on its "intelligent collaboration products" starting July 1, 2026, citing memory chip shortages, rising component costs, and AI-driven chip demand as pressures it can no longer absorb, according to Huawei Central. That notice covers smartphones, tablets, and other devices across Huawei's lineup, and moves the Huawei price hike July 2026 from executive speculation to a dated, company-issued...

Samsung's June security update for the Galaxy S25 delivers more than a patch. Three Galaxy AI features that were absent from last month's stable One UI 8.5 release are now rolling out to the S25 series, giving owners tools that have been exclusive to the Galaxy S26 since that phone launched. The update is live in South Korea today and expected to reach North America, Europe, and India within the coming week, Android Authority and GSMArena reported Thursday.

Murena launched /e/OS 4.0 today with the company's most direct attempt yet to address the practical obstacle behind most failed attempts to leave Google: not finding a different phone, but untangling a decade of email, contacts, Drive files, and account relationships from Google's infrastructure. The release lowers that barrier. How much, and for whom, depends on what you need from your phone after the switch.

Samsung has added a One UI 9 network speed indicator to the Galaxy status bar through an updated QuickStar Good Lock module, and both Android Authority and Sammy Fans confirmed the feature today through hands-on testing on Galaxy S26 Ultra hardware. The catch: it requires One UI 9, Samsung's Good Lock app, and the QuickStar plugin, in that order. None of that chain is available to most Galaxy owners yet, and the feature is off by default even for those who qualify.

OnePlus launched the Turbo 6X and Turbo 6X Pro in China this week, and the pricing structure between them is hard to ignore. At the entry tier, the OnePlus Turbo 6X and 6X Pro are separated by just CNY 100, roughly $15, with the Pro adding a larger battery, an AMOLED display, faster charging, and stronger water resistance for that gap, according to TechCabal. Both phones stay under CNY 2,400 ($354) across all configurations, with the base Turbo 6X starting at CNY 1,899 ($280).

Some YouTube Shorts users have opened the app this week to find the dislike button gone from the right-side action rail. No thumbs-down, no error message, no explanation. Recent reporting indicates it's not a bug but a live interface experiment, one that pulls the YouTube Shorts dislike button out of plain sight and routes it through an extra menu tap.

Google began notifying users this week that a new setting called Google Search Services History will govern how the company saves and uses the media submitted through Search. The change affects photos taken with Google Lens, recordings from the real-time Search Live tool, voice queries, spoken phrases entered into Translate, and uploaded files and video, The Verge reported Wednesday.

Samsung Wallet can now store a passport-backed digital ID accepted at more than 250 TSA checkpoints across the U.S. For frequent domestic travelers on Galaxy devices, that's a genuine convenience upgrade. It is not, in any practical sense, a passport replacement. The gap between those two things is exactly what's worth understanding before you set it up.

Google is rolling out a Gemini for Home smart display update in Google Home version 4.18, adding visual hourly weather forecasts, natural-language media browsing, and conversational news to Nest Hub displays. The changes are rolling out to Early Access users and may not be available to everyone immediately. Performance improvements — making responses faster — are included in the same release.

The OnePlus 15 can now transfer files directly to an iPhone, iPad, or Mac using Quick Share, with no cable, no third-party app, and no cloud upload required. Android Authority reported that AirDrop support via Quick Share has reached the OnePlus 15, extending the direct transfer capability that Google first launched for Pixel 10 devices last November.