Google has integrated its Gemini Spark AI assistant with Google Photos, letting it perform multi-step tasks like editing, organizing, and sharing images from a single prompt. Spark can also extract text from photos, summarize events, build visual stories, and run recurring tasks such as weekly album updates sent automatically to family or friends. The feature is rolling out gradually and currently limited to US users 18 and older with a Google AI Pro or Ultra subscription.
Android Authority ran a reader poll after reviewing Google's Tensor G6 chip inside the Pixel 11, which improves AI and efficiency-focused tasks but falls behind rivals in gaming and raw performance. Of over 2,800 respondents, 34.3% said they'd prefer more raw power, 30.5% valued efficiency instead, and only 15.7% felt the chip strikes a good balance between the two.
A hands-on comparison from Android Authority weighs Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 8 against Motorola's book-style Razr Fold, noting the Fold 8's wider 5.5-inch cover screen and 7.6-inch inner display make multitasking and everyday use smoother than past Samsung foldables. The reviewer says Motorola's alternative undercuts the $1,900 Fold 8 Ultra on price while still offering a traditional foldable experience for buyers who don't need flagship cameras.
Fresh leaks suggest Samsung may retire the Plus tier in 2027 and introduce a Galaxy S27 Pro that shares the Ultra's design language in a smaller size. Analysts covering the rumor argue the move would resolve the awkward positioning the Plus model has had since the Galaxy S23 generation, sitting between a mid-range price and Ultra-level features without clearly justifying either.
TECNO unveiled a concept Android smartphone at IFA 2026 featuring a 6.7-inch, 144Hz display with virtually no visible bezel, achieved by inserting the screen from the rear and using a dual-layer cover glass that extends beneath the frame. The device isn't production-ready, but the demo reportedly makes the border between screen and frame nearly imperceptible except at extreme angles.
Leaker Digital Chat Station claims the upcoming HONOR Magic 9 series will offer an external 500mm teleconverter lens, delivering roughly 20.8x optical zoom. That would surpass the vivo X300 Ultra's 400mm teleconverter, which offers about 16.6x zoom. The leak also points to dual 200MP ARRI-branded cameras, a camera grip, a cooling fan and an ~8,000mAh battery.
Solipsism Browser is a new open-source Android browser built on Chromium that launched about three months ago, offering extensive customization and design options typically associated with Firefox forks rather than Chrome. Despite its early stage, reviewers note it already feels highly polished and distinct from mainstream Chromium-based browsers.
GrapheneOS developers discovered that Google's Pixel 11 phones do include hardware support for Memory Tagging Extension (MTE) after examining code in the Android 17 QPR2 Beta 4 release. This contradicts the project's earlier assessment, made just days prior, that the phones lacked MTE and its accompanying warning against purchasing them.
The Verge's editorial team, including news editor Dom Preston and smart home reviewer Jen Tuohy, spent the week at IFA in Berlin testing new products firsthand. They opened a subscriber-only Q&A session to field reader questions about the devices they tried, with answers rolling out live starting at 12PM ET.
Lexar has introduced the Muse Ultraslim Portable SSD, which it says is the thinnest portable SSD on the market at 1mm to 3.8mm thick. It comes in 512GB and 1TB capacities, includes a magnetic carry sleeve for MagSafe or magnetic phone cases, and works with iPhones, iPads, Macs and other USB-C devices, supporting up to 4K/120fps ProRes capture.
Teardown of the latest Google Phone app beta (v237.0.973536915) reveals Xiaomi has been added to the list of supported manufacturers for Scam Detection. The AI-powered call-screening tool already works on Pixel phones and Samsung's Galaxy S26 series, with vivo support also expected soon. It's not yet clear which Xiaomi models will get the feature first, though a globally sold flagship is the likely candidate rather than the China-only Xiaomi 18 Fold.
UGreen has introduced three smart home hubs — the HomeAgent HA100, HomeAgent HA100 Pro, and MasterAgent MA100 — that handle voice commands, camera monitoring, and Matter device control entirely on-device rather than through cloud servers. Each unit combines a two-bay NAS with dedicated video storage and varying levels of onboard AI horsepower, including NVIDIA hardware in higher-end models, with the base HA100 offering 16GB of RAM and 26 TOPS of AI performance.
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