Charter to Merge with Cox
Charter and Cox have announced plans to merge, creating a new, larger cable and internet company. Both companies also offer mobile service for their customers as a bundle offering. The new company will officially be called Cox, but it will adopt Charter's Spectrum brand for consumer-facing services. This will make Spectrum Mobile the new mobile brand for customers of both companies. The merger is subject to regulatory and shareholder approval.
Qualcomm Upgrades its Affordable-Flagship Snapdragon Chipset
Qualcomm today announced the Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 Mobile Platform, a replacement for its existing Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 chip for high-end (but not quite top-end) phones. The new Gen 4 chip offers a 65% improvement in AI performance, 30% faster graphics (GPU) renderings, and 27% better general compute (CPU) performance. The chip also brings several advanced features from the 8 series to the 7 series for the first time, including XPAN Wi-Fi audio technology and on-device stable diffusion generative AI for images. The new chip also improves low-light photography and supports both Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6.0. The first phones using Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 are expected to be announced later this month.
Google "Find Hub" Replaces Find My Device
Google is revamping its find-my-device services into a new Find Hub. The new features will be able to find a lost Android device, or anything with a Google-compatible Bluetooth tracker attached. It can also be used to keep to share your location with family and friends. It's also gaining support for UWB (for high-end phones with that feature). Motorola's Bluetooth trackers will be the first to work with UWB. This feature lets you locate your lost item very precisely — including not just proximity but direction — when nearby. Finally, Google is working to integrate satellite connectivity into Find Hub, "helping you stay connected with friends and family even when you don’t have cellular connectivity."
5G Phones get More Affordable with TCL K32 5G on Metro
The "sub-$100" 5G phone that TCL promised at CES in January has arrived on US shelves with its launch on Metro by T-Mobile. Although Metro lists the full price as $119.99, many customers may be able to get the phone for free, through various promotions. Regardless, the phone marks a new milestone in the affordability of 5G phones in the US. The phone is powered by a Snapdragon 4s Gen 2 chip, which was specifically created to enable more-affordable 5G phones such as this one. The K32 5G has a large 5,010 mAh battery and large 6.7-inch HD+ display. Other specs are entry-level, as expected, including a 13-megapixel camera, 5-megapixel front camera, 4 GB RAM, and 64 GB storage. It does have a memory card slot and 3.5mm headset jack.
Apple Intros New Accessibility Apps, Plus Accessibility "Labels" in App Store
As it does every May for Global Accessibility Awareness Day, Apple has announced a number of new accessibility apps, features, and initiatives. Apple's App Store listings will now include "Accessibility Nutrition Labels", showing which major accessibility features each app supports. This includes VoiceOver, Voice Control, Larger Text, Sufficient Contrast, Reduced Motion, captions, and more. Apple is also introducing Braille Access, a Braille "experience" that can be used to take notes, perform calculations, read books, transcribe conversations, and launch other apps. Accessibility Reader is a new iOS feature "designed to make text easier to read for users with a wide range of disabilities, such as dyslexia or low vision". It gives users "extensive options" for how text is displayed in any app, as well as text in the real world via the Magnifier app and iPhone camera. Apple is also adding many smaller new features across its existing accessibility features, such as Head Tracking, adding new gestures to control your phone, and Name Recognition, "a new way for users who are deaf or hard of hearing to know when their name is being called."
Samsung Fully Reveals 5.8mm-Thick Galaxy S25 Edge
After a brief tease in January, Samsung has finally announced the Galaxy S25 Edge, its thinnest flagship phone to date. A titanium body and Corning Gorilla Glass Ceramic 2 help allow the phone to be just 5.8mm thick. The phone naturally has a smaller battery at just 3,900 mAh, but it does have fast wired and wireless charging. The phone otherwise maintains flagship specs from the S25 series, including the top-end Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy chipset, 200 megapixel main camera with OIS, and 12 megapixel ultra-wide camera. Further specs include a 6.7-inch OLED display with QHD+ resolution and 120 Hz refresh, 12 GB of RAM, and IP68 dust and water rating. Color choices include Titanium Silver, Titanium Jetblack and Titanium Icyblue. The phone will be priced starting at $1,099, going on sale May 30. Pre-orders are open now, and include a free upgrade from 256 to 512 GB of storage.
Google Expands Scam Detection on Android Using AI
Google is adding new types of scam detection and protection using on-device AI on Android. Android can already detect scams in progress and warn users in phone calls and messages. Now, the Chrome browser can detect scam-related notifications from web sites. Soon, Google also plans to apply this type of scam detection to whole web sites in Chrome. Google is already rolling this feature out to the desktop version of Chrome, but says "Our goal is to expand this protection to Android devices and even more types of scams in the future."
Android's New Design Guidelines Leaked
Google seems to have accidentally, prematurely published a blog post about its new "Material 3 Expressive" design guidelines for Android. The new templates feature a bolder design with floating toolbars, larger buttons, more color, and more varied shapes and fonts. These guidelines are used by Google for Android itself and its own Google apps, but are also suggested for third-party app developers. Google says the new system is the fruit of extensive research, including "46 separate research studies with hundreds of designs, and more than 18,000 participants from around the world". Google claims multiple benefits, including users being able to perform certain actions up to 4x faster, as well as strong user preference (vs. Apple's iOS Human Interface Guidelines) and "brand coolness".
Samsung Wallet Will Let You Tap Phones to Pay a Friend
Later this month, an update to Samsung Wallet will enable direct peer-to-peer (P2P) cash payments between Samsung phones. The feature requires that both phones have a Visa or Mastercard debit card stored in their Wallet, and moves money directly from one bank account to another, via those debit cards. The transaction can be initiated via NFC — by tapping phones together — or remotely, using a phone number to look up the other person's Samsung account. Someone with a Samsung phone can also send money to someone without one by tapping the recipient's physical debit card to the phone. Apple has a somewhat similar feature called Tap To Cash, although it has its own Apple Cash wallet balance, instead of being tied to bank accounts via debit cards. Google Pay used to offer P2P payments, but discontinued that service last year.
Class-Action Lawsuit Filed on Behalf of iOS Developers
Following a judge's ruling last week that Apple has been in contempt of an earlier injunction ruling regarding its App Store fees, law firm Hagens Berman has started a class-action lawsuit on behalf of iOS developers. "The lawsuit’s named plaintiff is Pure Sweat Basketball Inc., a corporation offering an app used by players across the country to train and improve their basketball skills. Had Apple complied with the injunction, as required, Pure Sweat would have been able to sell subscriptions to its app directly to its customers, using 'link-out' buttons directing customers to Pure Sweat's own website." This significantly impacted Pure Sweat's revenue. The firm estimates that more than 100,000 app developers may have experienced similar harm and may be eligible to join the lawsuit. Apple is appealing the judge's recent contempt ruling, but has already changed its App Store policies in the US to comply.
Apple Updates App Store Rules in US to Comply with Court Order, Developers React
Apple has officially updated its rules and practices for its App Store in the US to allow commission-free third-party payments. This follows a court order on Wednesday demanding such. Apple will no longer demand a cut of payments made through non-Apple systems. Apple will also stop requiring a special "entitlement" approval for in-app links to other payment methods, and will remove other restrictions on such links. These changes only apply in the US. The court case in question was filed by Epic Games, which has promised to bring its Fortnite game back to the Apple App Store soon as a result. Spotify has already updated its app to reflect the changes, showing clear subscription pricing and payment links in its iOS app for the first time. Patreon is also working to update its app in response.
Apple Reprimanded for Illegally Taking a Cut of Third-Party Payments
In the ongoing saga of the Epic Games v. Apple legal case over Apple's App Store fees and rules, the judge has ordered Apple to immediately stop collecting fees on purchases made outside of apps. Further, Apple is no longer allowed to restrict how apps point users to third-party payment options. The judge had already issued injunctions to this effect as long ago as 2021, but Apple's selective interpretation of its obligations amounts to "willful" non-compliance, according to the judge. So much so that the judge has requested that the case be reviewed for possible criminal contempt proceedings. Apple said it would comply, but appeal. Epic Games responded that it will bring its Fortnite game back to Apple's App Store "next week".
Android Now Supports Digital Credentials Among Apps and Websites
Google announced that the Credential Manager component of Android now supports the OpenID4 industry standard for digital credentials. Android's implementation extends existing digital state ID technology to the whole Android ecosystem, allowing any Android app to issue a digital credential to one or more wallet apps, and any app or web site to request a verifiable credential. The Android OS will now manage such requests with a new interface that lets a user choose among matching credential types from across all installed wallet apps. These credential types can include not just state IDs, but education certifications, insurance policies, memberships, permits, loyalty programs, and more. Companies and apps already onboard include CVS, MyChart by Epic, Uber, Bumble, Samsung Wallet, 1Password, and, of course, Google Wallet.
FCC Cracking Down on Another Loophole Used by Robocallers
The FCC is proposing that all phone calls within the US must maintain caller ID authentication info even when passing through non-IP networks. This will will close a key loophole used by malicious robocallers to disguise their identity and avoid detection. There are three technical proposals to meet this new requirement, two of which the FCC is giving its blessing to, and a third it is still accepting comment on. Most voice traffic moves through IP-based networks, and the FCC has already implemented rules requiring "STIR/SHAKEN" caller ID authentication for that traffic, one of many steps the FCC has taken in the last decade to tackle the scourge of malicious robocalls and scam calls.
Google Improves Age Verification in Google Wallet
Google is rolling out new features in Wallet that make it easier for web sites and apps to verify minimum age in a way that preserves user privacy. The features are tied to digital ID cards, and implement Zero Knowledge Proof (ZKP), a best-practice privacy technology.
Nothing Debuts CMF Phone 2 Pro
Nothing has revealed the CMF Phone 2 Pro, its second phone under its CMF (Color, Material, Finish) sub-brand. Unlike the first CMF phone, this model has decent support for key US network frequency bands (4G and 5G). However, Nothing is still selling the phone in the US as a "test device" under its "beta program", which requires that the customer provide feedback to Nothing, and the phone only carries a 14-day warranty. The phone does have a distinctive design, and offers impressive specs given its $279 price. These include a 6.77" FHD+ AMOLED display with 120 Hz refresh and HDR10+, 5,000 mAh battery, 33W fast charging, MediaTek Dimensity 7300 Pro processor, 8 GB RAM, 256 GB storage, 50 megapixel main camera, 50 megapixel 2x tele camera, 8 megapixel wide camera, Wi-Fi 6, NFC, fingerprint reader, and IP54 dust/water rating. Screws on the back serve as attachment points for accessories. A dedicated "Essential Key" on the side provides quick access to screenshots and voice memos. The CMF Phone 2 Pro is available in orange, black, or white. Pre-orders start today, with shipments starting May 7.
T-Mobile Launches 5G Advanced
T-Mobile announced that it is the first US carrier to roll out new 5G technologies from the 3GPP release 18 standard (also known as 5G Advanced) nationwide. This includes new low-latency technology such as Low Latency, Low Loss, Scalable throughput (L4S), which will improve responsiveness for applications such as gaming, AR/VR, XR, and video calls / conferencing. Another new feature is 5G RedCap (Reduced Capability), which simplifies the 5G standard in ways that make 5G practical for devices like smartwatches and IoT devices. 5G Advanced also brings enhanced location precision features. 5G Advanced brings a long list of other, smaller improvements to the 5G standard in areas like network slicing. Carriers can choose which features to implement on their network, and indeed T-Mobile says it is "blending elements from Releases 17 and 18".
Boost is the Third US Carrier to Offer a TCL NXTPAPER Phone
Boost is now offering the TCL 50 XL NXTPAPER 5G, with TCL's unique "NXTPAPER" matte-finish display technology. Spectrum and C Spire also offer NXTPAPER phones.
