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Tag: Android Central

  • Ring Is Locking Core Features Behind a Subscription

    Ring Is Locking Core Features Behind a Subscription

    Just days after getting a new CEO, Ring is angering customers by locking core features behind a subscription service.

    Ring is one of the most popular home camera systems and is owned by Amazon. The company’s founder stepped aside as CEO last week, paving the way for former Microsoft and Meta exec Elizabeth (Liz) Hamren to take over.

    Less than a week later, Ring has made one of its more controversial decisions, according to Android Central:

    Starting March 29, 2023, all Ring customers will have to have a subscription in order to use the Home and Away modes in the Ring app. Additionally, new Ring Alarm customers will have to have a subscription in order to set or disable the alarm remotely, see more than 24 hours of event history, or even receive notifications from their Ring Alarm base station.

    As Android Central points out, these types of changes paint a dim picture of the future of the smart home. Rather than consumers being able to purchase, own, and truly use their smart home devices, it seems companies are hell-bent on locking them into a quagmire of perpetual subscriptions for even the most basic features.

  • It’s Official: Bing Is Cool, and Google Search Is In Trouble

    It’s Official: Bing Is Cool, and Google Search Is In Trouble

    Microsoft’s AI-powered Bing represents an existential threat to Google’s search, with early reports suggesting Google may be in serious trouble.

    Microsoft unveiled its AI-powered Bing last week, using a new and improved version of the OpenAI tech behind ChatGPT. The move is largely seen as one of the biggest challenges Google has faced to its core search business and could help Bing make major headway against its rival.

    Early reports indicate that Microsoft’s AI-powered Bing is performing far better than critics anticipated and is serving up better results than an old-school Google search. In fact, CNET’s Stephen Shankland put ten questions to both search engines and came away preferring Bing’s response to eight of the questions. Interestingly, Bing did especially well on complex questions, as well as at providing information about recent events, such as the US shooting down a ‘high-altitude object’ over Alaska.

    Read More: Google Won the Search Wars, but Can It Win the AI Search Wars?

    Similarly, Android Central posted a poll to see how many of its readers would be willing to switch to the new Bing once it’s available to the public. A whopping 52% said they would switch and give Bing a try, with 11% already using Bing and only 30% saying they would stick with Google.

    Indeed, Microsoft VP Yusuf Mehdi revealed the company quickly saw more than one million people sign up to test-drive the new Bing.

    Needless to say, Google is not going to take this challenge to its business lying down. In fact, the company has been rushing to roll out its own ChatGPT challenger, Bard. Unfortunately, in its rush, the company bungled Bard’s unveiling. This led to a $100 billion drop in the company’s value and vocal criticism of CEO Sundar Pichai from Google’s own employees.

    The picture is clear: Microsoft has taken an early lead in the AI search wars and is moving quickly to capitalize on it. This has resulted in Bing being seen as cool — quite possibly for the first time ever.

    And Google? Google is in real trouble — quite possibly for the first time ever.

  • Pixel 7 To Be the First Google Flagship to Arrive in India in Years

    Pixel 7 To Be the First Google Flagship to Arrive in India in Years

    Google is planning on releasing the Pixel 7 in India, marking the first time the company has released a flagship phone there in several years.

    The Pixel 7 is Google’s upcoming line of smartphones and will build on the success it has enjoyed with the Pixel 6 and 6a series. Unfortunately for Indian fans, however, the last flagship Pixel to be released in-country was the Pixel 3 and 3XL.

    According to Android Central, Google is finally changing course. There’s not been a specific release date announced, but at least Indian Pixel users shouldn’t have long to wait.

    The move also marks a greater investment in the country by Google. News broke earlier this month that the company was looking to expand Pixel manufacturing in India in an effort to reduce its reliance on China.

  • Samsung Users May Finally Get Seamless Android Updates

    Samsung Users May Finally Get Seamless Android Updates

    Samsung users may finally get seamless Android updates, easing a major pain point with some of the world’s most popular smartphones.

    Android, especially on Google’s own line of Pixel phones, has had the ability to download and install system updates in the background, without interfering with what the user is doing. Once the OS has updated to the latest version, the user is notified that a restart will be required to finish the update, which the user can perform when they’re ready.

    Unfortunately, Samsung has never adopted the feature. As a result, Samsung’s phones have a much more obnoxious updating process that gets in the user’s way until it’s completed.

    According to Android Central, Google may mandate that all OEM’s shipping Android 13 adopt A/B Seamless Updates. The report is based on a tweet by Mishaal Rahman, senior technical editor at Esper.

    The news is likely to be a welcome improvement for Samsung users, although it will only apply to phones that ship with Android 13.