Dominic Preston is The Verge’s UK-based News Editor, and puts together the newsletter The Daily. He’s a Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future food systems and public health fellow for his food writing. He’s been in journalism since 2013, after picking up two degrees in philosophy that he still hasn’t figured out what to do with. His career in journalism started out with covering movies and games before moving onto the tech beat. He was previously the deputy editor at Tech Advisor and a managing editor at Android Police, and will jump at any excuse to review an Android phone. When he’s not writing about tech he’s usually writing about food instead, on his Substack newsletter Braise. Contact him on Signal for tips: @dompreston.01
The Pixel Watch 2 and later are getting Gemini Personalization, allowing the AI assistant to learn from past conversations and connected Google apps. The 3 and on also get new double-pinch gesture controls, while the 4 gets a performance bump to raise-to-talk. A similar September update is rolling out to Pixel phones too.
[Google Pixel Watch Community]
Motion Assist is similar to Apple’s Motion Cues, displaying moving dots that track a vehicle’s movement and help reduce motion sickness in the process. It rolled out for Pixel phones last month, but Google’s Mishaal Rahman says it’s now generally available in Android 17.
To use motion assist, you’ll need an Android device running Android 17 or higher with Google Play Services updated. To set it up, open Settings, tap your profile > All services, then tap “Motion assist” under “Personal & device safety.”
It packs Arm’s new G2-Ultra NX GPU, supports 4K at 240fps slow-motion video, and has two NPUs for more (and more efficient) AI processing. Its joined by a 9600M chip for cheaper models. Oppo has already said its Find X10 Pro Max will use the 9600 Pro, as will Vivo’s X500 Pro.
Update: Added Oppo and Vivo hardware confirmations.
This week’s new single-lens Luna Pro added 4K30 vertical recording, something lacking on the pricier Ultra and both of DJI’s Osmo Pocket 4 and 4P steadicams. The company tells me that the Ultra is getting 4K support added retroactively though. The update is planned for September 20th, but I’ve been warned there’s a chance it could be postponed.
Images shared by WinFuture suggest a return to the squircular design of the original SmartTag (unlike its pill-shaped successor), but without a cutout for key rings and carabiners. Instead an optional case could offer an attachment point, while a Spigen collaboration builds it into a pet collar. WinFuture expects it to launch in October for $29.99.
Supposedly galled the Galaxy Buds On, SammyGuru found an image of the earbuds in the Samsung Buds Manager app. Other images hint at features including automatic volume adjustment, voice memo recording, and head shaking and nodding gesture controls. Clip-ons are the new industry trend, with Bose, Sony, and Nothing already on board.
The 2023 Android tablet has seemingly been discontinued. Its online Google Store page is gone, and there’s no longer even a “Tablet” section in the menu. The Pixel Tablet was most notable for the included dock, which turned it into a smart home hub, but never received a follow-up.
