Google this week revealed that Nest Aware, the service required to make the most out of Nest Cam, is getting a major price hike, and it’s a tough one to accept as the hardware just keeps aging.

After the deprecation of Assistant Driving Mode earlier this year, Google Maps is now missing media playback controls for YouTube Music and Spotify on Android.

There was a time when “Android skin” was a dirty word, something that frustrated and inhibited the entire platform. Times have changed, though; in fact, many are incredible options, and they make Android stronger for buyers and fans alike.

Like on Android, the Phone by Google app is getting a M3 Expressive redesign on Wear OS.

Welcome to episode 62 of Pixelated, a podcast by 9to5Google. This week, we’re prepping for all things Pixel 10. With Made By Google officially announced for August 20th, we have less than five weeks to go until new Google hardware hits our desk. From phones to wearables, earbuds to foldables, there’s a lot to look forward to — and frankly, it might all boil down to some software secrets we don’t know much about yet.

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Before we all head off into the weekend, let’s take a rundown of the best deals courtesy of the Google Play store. Joining the Android app discounts, we are also tracking a chance to land Galaxy Watch 7 from $160 or Galaxy Watch 8 up to $250 off (FREE with Galaxy Z Fold 7), as well as Pixel Watch 3 as low as $217, up to $500 off Copilot+ PCs at Best Buy, and an ongoing Prime Day price on Google TV Streamer 4K. As for the apps, everything awaits below. 

Like the Pixel 10 series last week, European pricing for the Pixel Watch 4 has now leaked and looks to be staying the same. 

Like Pixel and Workspace, Gemini is the latest product to get Feature Drops, with a new “Productivity Planner Gem” being the highlight.

Months after its siblings, the Galaxy A56 is finally going on sale in the US today, Samsung says, though you might still need to wait a little bit.

We are ending off the work week with a fresh batch of deals and some return Prime Day offers in today’s 9to5Toys Lunch Break. Alongside the chance at scoring a Pixel Watch 3 as low as $217, Amazon is also still offering Prime Day pricing on the Google TV Streamer 4K. Speaking of which, Prime Day pricing on the Galaxy Watch 7 has returned from $160 alongside the deep deals on the new Galaxy Watch 8. On the PC side of things, Best Buy is offering up to $500 off a range of CoPilot+ models including $300 off the 2025 Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3x touchscreen. Everything await below. 

A partial outage appears to be hitting various Google services today, including Workspace, Gmail, Gemini, Nest, and other products powered by Google Cloud.

According to recent reports, Google’s upcoming Pixel Watch 4 is apparently set to include improvements to blood oxygen tracking, offer some form of satellite communications in emergencies, and support Android 16’s notification cooldown feature.

If you’re impatiently waiting for word on when Samsung’s first tri-fold smartphone might finally hit the market, you might not have to wait much longer — even if it means getting beat to the punch by the only other tri-foldable in town.

The Android tablet market was devoid of decent options for a long time, but we’re finally seeing new options pop up. Lenovo’s Legion Tab is what really garnered attention earlier this year, but after spending a few weeks with the Redmagic Astra, I think it’s clear that this is a near-perfect version of a compact Android tablet, thanks in large part to its specs and OLED display.

Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 7 marks an important point for the company’s foldable efforts. Not only is it quite literally half as thin as the original, but it’s also finally caught up to the competition. But this launch also means something else. The race for the “world’s thinnest foldable” is over at this point, and that means it’s time for Samsung and others to focus on something else in the post-Galaxy Z Fold 7 world.

The Essential Phone (PH-1) is a weird little blip on Android’s history. Gone, but not totally forgotten. However, one of the few remaining traces of the Essential brand has now been wiped from Twitter/X, as Nothing has its own plans for the branding.

Android 16 QPR1 Beta 3 should be the last major preview (excluding any upcoming .1 patches) before the stable launch in September, and Google is making tweaks to weather in At a Glance and the Pixel Launcher search field.

The Android 16 QPR1 preview cycle continues today with Beta 3 for Pixel devices today.

Samsung stuck to its set pattern and released a Classic edition for the Galaxy Watch 8 series two years after the last model. But what’s actually different between the more traditional Watch 6 Classic and Samsung’s newest flagship? Does it come down to software alone, or is it worth it to make the jump a couple of generations?

Ahead of the stable launch in September, Google is rolling out Android 16 QPR1 Beta 3 to Pixel devices today.