Getting attention to your brand is not the most straightforward job in the world. With all the noise out there and consumer attention dwindling, finding ways to get your brand recognized (and remembered) is becoming a skill that only a […]
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The Nothing Phone (1) is getting a notable new update, as the company brings Google’s Circle to Search to the device alongside other tweaks.
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While deals on the Galaxy S24 FE and Galaxy Tab S9 FE+ remain, today we are focused on the flagship gear – Samsung Galaxy S10+ is $400 off with an S25 Ultra purchase or nearly $200 off without – alongside a new Amazon all-time low on the official Galaxy SmartTag 2 item tracker. Next up is a seriously notable (and likely very limited) $300 price drop on a brand-new unlocked Google Pixel 9 Pro XL joined by deep deals on the gorgeous leather-like and metal Authentics Google Home Speakers from JBL – they are now up to $200 off the list prices. All of that and more awaits below in today’s 9to5Toys Lunch Break.
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One UI 7 still feels so far away for Galaxy users who aren’t using the newest flagship from Samsung. Before One UI 7 gets a full launch for anything but the Galaxy S25, it looks like Samsung is preparing to release yet another One UI 7 beta, this time for the Galaxy ZZ Fold 6 and Flip 6.
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Apple is holding its annual shareholder meeting today as investors vote on several proposals and hear updates from CEO Tim Cook.
Most notably, Apple shareholders rejected an outside proposal calling for the company to end its DEI initiatives.
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One thing writers and multinational consumer electronics corporations have in common is we both need a good editor. Or, failing that, at least a good spell-checker. OnePlus somehow missed that step when launching the OnePlus Watch 3, which had its scheduled Tuesday launch abruptly halted because of an embarrassing typo. On the back of the watch, early buyers discovered that their $330 smartwatch was "meda in China." As a result, you'll now have to wait until April to buy the device.
At least someone on OnePlus' social team saw an opportunity. "Oops, we've meda mistake!" the company posted on X on Friday. "A typo slipped through and made its way onto your shiny new OnePlus Watch 3." The acknowledgment came three days after a Reddit post showing photo evidence of the flub gained traction in the OnePlus subreddit. "Yikes lol how did this pass QC?" u/kbtech wondered in the comments.
The OnePlus Watch 3's new release date is sometime in April, with the order page currently estimating an April 9 ship date. On the bright side, the company is extending its $30 pre-order discount. (For those shopping in Canada, it's $50 off.) You can use code TIME1010 to get the lower price, which lasts until April.
Those who already got one of the "Meda in China" models can either keep it or return it with no questions asked. (Not that the answers would be too difficult to guess.)
OnePlus says the Watch 3 can run for an estimated 16 days in power saver mode, five days in smart mode and up to 72 hours for heavy users. The Wear OS watch also has a new titanium bezel and a sapphire crystal screen. All in all, it sounds like a well-meda piece of gear.
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© u/Sanizore05 / Reddit
First announced at CES 2024, the Clicks physical keyboard add-on for iPhones has proven to be a modest hit. Soon, some Android users will be able to get in on the action. That’s right. The company just announced a redesign specifically for certain Android handsets.
The overall design doesn’t look too different from the iPhone version. It’s a sleeve that you pop the phone into. Once connected, you can type with physical keys via a free Android companion app. There’s backlit keys, USB-C charging and support for shortcuts. By their very nature, Clicks keyboards also provide more screen real estate, which is always nice.
The company says these new versions feature “brushed metal side keys, a microfibre interior and precision moulded enclosures that are custom-engineered to fit each Android smartphone.” With that said, the Android-based Clicks keyboard only integrates with the Pixel 9 and 9 Pro, the Galaxy S25 and the Moto Razr+. That last one actually requires a unique design, given that the Razr+ is a flip-style foldable.
The Pixel 9 versions will be out first, at the end of April, with an introductory pre-order price of $99. That promotion ends on March 21 and the cost goes up to $139. The Razr+ case will be available in May, with the same $99 pre-order campaign running until March 21. The Samsung Galaxy model starts shipping out in June and features the same $99/$139 pre-order pricing model with a March 21 cutoff date.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/clicks-is-finally-releasing-its-keyboard-add-on-for-some-android-phones-170006160.html?src=rss©
© Clicks
Canadian biotech startup Afynia Laboratories, a spin-out from McMaster University in Ontario, has picked up $5 million in seed funding to commercialize a blood test for endometriosis — a medical condition that can afflict people with a uterus, causing problems like chronic pelvic pain and fertility issues. Endometriosis affects nearly 200 million people worldwide. Getting […]
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Qualcomm and Google have joined forces to extend software updates on Android devices. With Google's assistance, the chipmaker has committed to providing extended vendor support to any OEM building on its most powerful chips, pushing the theoretical lifespan of Android devices to eight years. There are plenty of caveats, but this move could make your next phone more useful for longer.
The extended support window only applies to Android devices with the latest Qualcomm chipsets. To start, the eight-year support timeline will be extended to devices running the new Snapdragon 8 Elite mobile platform, which has powered devices like the OnePlus 13 and Galaxy S25. Later this year, the same policy will be applied to the company's new Snapdragon 8 and Snapdragon 7-series chips, and you can expect the same deal for at least the next five generations of Qualcomm silicon.
"Through this collaboration, OEMs can more seamlessly update the software and security on their devices, ensuring a more secure and long-lasting Android experience for our users," said Google's Android Platform manager Seang Chau.
That comforting hot cup of tea—or refreshing glass of iced tea on a hot summer day—could help reduce the amount of toxic metals in drinking water, according to a new paper published in the journal ACS Food & Science Technology.
“We’re not suggesting that everyone starts using tea leaves as a water filter,” said co-author Vinayak Dravid, who studies sorbent materials at Northwestern University. “Our goal was to measure tea’s ability to adsorb heavy metals. By quantifying this effect, our work highlights the unrecognized potential for tea consumption to passively contribute to reduced heavy metal exposure in populations worldwide.”
Some 2 billion people drink tea on a daily basis worldwide, and numerous studies have suggested various health benefits from regular tea consumption. Most nutrition studies focus on things like polyphenols, caffeine, or other chemicals released during brewing, but such research overlooks a unique aspect of tea: unlike most food and drink, tea leaves are not directly consumed, and the brewing process allows tea leaves to adsorb chemicals as well as release them—most notably heavy metal toxins like lead, arsenic, or cadmium. (Adsorption is when a substance adheres to the surface of something; absorption is when a material takes in a substance.)
© Vinayak P. Dravid Group/Northwestern University
Tesla is starting to push a software update to its customers in China that appears to fulfill a long-gestating goal for the company to offer its controversial Full Self-Driving features in its largest car market. Or does it?
According to Not a Tesla App, its unclear whether the version of FSD that Tesla is offering in China is the same as the one available in North America. For one thing, it’s not even called FSD, but rather “Urban Road Autopilot Assistance” (URAA). According to the website:
On controlled-access highways and urban roads, URAA guides vehicles according to navigation routes, assisting with entering and exiting highways, navigating intersections, and recognizing traffic lights to perform actions like going straight, turning left or right, or making U-turns.
That sounds like FSD, which is a semi-autonomous driver assist system that responds to traffic lights and stop signs, performs lane changes, and includes a self-parking feature. Not a Tesla App also found a video on X that appears to show a Tesla owner using URAA in China, and on the surface it looks a lot like FSD, including a visualization on the central touchscreen with the familiar blue line emanating from the vehicle to indicate the driving path.
Some more FSD CHINA footage pic.twitter.com/E7YSEFbz6v
— JacksonS (@shrmodelx) February 25, 2025
But Reuters reports that the Chinese version of FSD will be “less capable” than the North American version “due to insufficient data training on Chinese roads and traffic rules,” citing unnamed sources. The software update is being pushed out in batches, so its unlikely that everyone who paid for the feature — which reportedly costs 64,000 yuan ($8,800 USD) — will receive it right away. Bloomberg says the update will only be available to vehicle’s with “HW 4.0,” which include most Model Y and Model 3 vehicles built in China last year.
Elon Musk has long sought approval for FSD from Chinese regulators, even flying to Beijing last year to meet with government officials about deploying the semi-autonomous feature. But he acknowledged that the company was running into obstacles, including a lack of usable training data, and that Tesla engineers were trying to resolve those issues by using videos of driving in China that were found on the internet. Reuters reports that Musk is considering building a local data center in China to process data.
The Chinese version of FSD will be “less capable” than the North American version
The delays have hurt Tesla’s ability to compete with Chinese EV makers, including BYD, which recently rolled out its own advanced driver assist called God’s Eye. China is an enormously important market for Tesla, which reported its first year over year sales decline in 2024. Xiaomi, who’s SU7 sells for less than $30,000 and offers a smart city driving feature in its cars for free, has outsold the Model 3 on a monthly basis, according to Reuters. Chinese law requires driver supervision for its Level 2 assist features.
Tesla has said repeatedly that FSD will ultimately lead to fully driverless cars — though Musk recently admitted that most Tesla vehicles will need a significant hardware update in order to achieve unsupervised driving. Tesla’s approach to autonomy has also been criticized for lacking redundant sensors like lidar and for falling short of capabilities of companies like Waymo.
In its 2024 roadmap, Tesla said it would launch FSD in China and Europe in the first quarter of 2025. The company has yet to receive regulatory approval in Europe for the driver assist feature.
The BlackBerry might be dead, but one of its best ideas — a tiny thumb-friendly keyboard for phones — lives on in the Clicks keyboard case, which will soon be available for several Android devices.
Over 100,000 of the original Clicks keyboard cases have been sold around the world, the company says in a press release, but since launching in January 2024, it’s only been compatible with iPhone 14, 15, and 16 models. Starting in April, the cases will be available for several Motorola, Google Pixel, and Samsung Galaxy devices and will work with a new Android version of the Clicks Keyboard mobile app, allowing the keyboard’s functionality to be customized, including how the caps lock, return, and Clicks keys work.
Preorders for all of the Android Clicks keyboard cases start today through the company’s website, but availability varies by device. The Google Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro (not the XL) version, expected to ship at the end of April, will sell for $99 until March 21st and then increase in price to $139. Color options include surge — described as a “high-vis yellow-green” — and black.
The Motorola Razr Plus (2024) and Razr (2024) version of the Clicks case, available in electric blue or black, can be preordered for $49 to lock in a price of $99. After March 21st, preorders will still be $49, but pricing for the case, which is expected to ship in late May, will jump to $139. It’s the same story for the Samsung Galaxy S25 version of the case, although it’s not expected to ship until June and will be available in red and black.
The Android version of the Clicks case carries over the same keyboard design as the iPhone version, including the use of round keys that are slightly angled to improve the typing experience. (Instead of copying the more ergonomic design of the BlackBerry’s keys — an approach that didn’t end well for the Ryan Seacrest-backed Typo case.)
Some of the key labels are slightly different, but like the original iPhone version, the Android Clicks case still allows keyboard shortcuts to be used for launching apps or quickly navigating Android, including a dedicated key for accessing Google Gemini. It also features backlighting, and instead of a battery, it draws all the power it needs from each Android device’s USB-C port.
The physical design of the case is also similar, although the version for the Motorola Razr Plus and Razr (2024) is split into two halves, allowing both devices to still fold. Clicks is also adding a “strong magnetic array” to the two Pixel cases — a feature the company introduced with the iPhone 16 version to improve MagSafe compatibility — making it a bit easier to use wireless chargers with Google’s latest smartphones.
