Here are a few of the tech news stories I found interesting over the long weekend, including a new Google Phone, more Activision Blizzard fallout, cheaper streaming service options, video cards you can’t buy, and an R2-D2 Tamagotchi. Really.
Google (Mostly) Announces the Pixel 6
Google took some of the wraps off the forthcoming Pixel 6 phone line this week. Google invited several media outlets to see the devices in person, though they weren’t allowed to take pictures of said devices. Instead we have google provided press photos. The company says the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro will be a return to the premium phone market. The Pixel 5 was a midrange phone with a price to match. While no pricing was revealed, the publications that did get hands on say that it feels like that the pixel 6 will be competitive with the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S21 line, which gets well north of $1000. That is the pricing we can likely expect from the Pixel 6. The design will be polarizing, but I think it looks sharp, and looks very unique compared to most android phones on the market today.
Google also wasn’t ready to talk about most of what is under the hood of the phone. It used this hands on time ot highlight Google’s new Tensor System on a Chip. Tensor is not one processor, or one part, but rather a collection of components in the phone. Some parts, like the processor and RAM will be off the shelf parts that are currently a mystery, but other parts are google designed. The company says that the phones will have dedicated co-processors for AI, Machine Learning, and photo processing which will make the devices more efficient, improving both performance and battery life.
The rest of the phone’s details remain a mystery. There are new photo sensors, though the company isn’t saying what resolution. We do know that the Pixel 6 Pro will have standard, wide angle, and telephoto lenses while the smaller Pixel 6 lacks the telephoto lens. But the rest... we don’t know.
https://www.androidcentral.com/google-pixel-6-official-teaser
Blizzard Studio President Steps Down
The fallout from the lawsuit against Activision Blizzard has resulted in the studio head of Blizzard Studios, J Allen Brack has stepped down from his role. Brack had been with Blizzard since 2006, becoming the head of the studio in 2018. This is the biggest domino to fall to this point, and it comes less than 2 weeks after the lawsuit was filed. It likely won’t be the last.
https://www.engadget.com/blizzard-leader-j-allen-brack-steps-down-133538233.html
Apple Launches Redesigned Online Store
This isn’t usually something I’d talk a lot about, but when the company is as large as Apple, and Apple has gone literally years without updating it’s website or online store, it seems notable. The company has completely redesigned the online store, with more visual flare, and cards all over the place. The design actually reminds me quite a bit of the iPad App Store.
https://www.apple.com/ca/store
YouTube and Spotify Begin Testing Cheaper Offerings
I’m lumping this into one story, with two companies trying to entice users to pay for their services.
YouTube is testing a terribly named “YouTube Premium Lite” offering that removes ads from YouTube, but does not include the other benefits of YouTube Premium, like access to offline downloads, and the full YouTube Music service. It is being tested In a few European countries for 6 EUR per month.
Similarly, Spotify is also testing a low cost option. Select users are being given an option to pay $1 USD for access to the entire Spotify catalog and unlimited skips, while still serving ads to users. The free version of Spotify is limited to pre-made playlists and users are given only limited song skips per hour, and includes ads.
This is interesting from both of these companies. YouTube is trying to find a way to entice users who don’t want to see so many ads to pay, and Spotify is trying to get even a little bit of revenue from customers while still serving ads. I don’t know if either of these will stick, but they are both good trials.
https://www.androidcentral.com/spotify-plus-ad-supported-subscription-tier-test
Samsung Galaxy Book Go Now Available in Canada
The Samsung Galaxy Book Go could be an important product for Microsoft and ARM. Windows on ARM has been hampered by several factors in the last couple years, but one of those reasons is cost. Windows on ARM is less capable than the full Windows 10 that runs on regular PC’s, but to this point Windows on ARM laptops have been extremely expensive, with most models priced well over $1500 in Canada. The Galaxy Book Go aims to change that. It is now on sale from Samsung for $420, making it easily the cheapest Windows on ARM laptop yet. The Galaxy Book Go features a Snapdragon 7c processor, which won’t offer much in terms of performance, but $400 Intel computers aren’t exactly powerhouses either.
But getting the price down might just help Windows on ARM. Sure, Windows on ARM can’t run every Windows application, and it might not be fast, but I think expectations are much different for a $400 computer than a $1500 computer. I’d love to get my hands on one of these to see just how well it does or doesn’t work.
AMD Announces RX 6600XT Video Card That You Can’t Buy
AMD has a new video card aimed at 1080p gaming. It continues the trend of price increases for video cards, coming in at $380USD, which is a full $100 more than the card it replaces, the RX 5600XT was when it launched. And that’s if you can buy it at retail price, which you can’t. PC gaming continues to become less affordable, chip shortage or not.
https://pcper.com/2021/07/amd-announces-radeon-rx-6600-xt-graphics-card/
There is an R2-D2 Tamagotchi For Some Reason
I have nothing to say other than this feels like it should have been released in 2001, not 2021.