⌚ Samsung's Apple Watch rival reviewed, 💔 Microsoft Y2K24 outage stats, 🎮 PS5 Pro evidence, 📱 New Google phones
10 tech stories in the quickest format possible
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⌚1. Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra review: don't sleep on this Apple Watch rival
I just reviewed the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra, currently $649 (discount in place until the end of Tuesday 7/27). This multi-sport fitness smartwatch copies Apple’s presentation down to the orange accents and band. But it’s $150 cheaper than the Apple Watch Ultra 2, and its sleep apnea detection could save your life. Priceless.
🏆 Review score: 4 out of 5
Pros
✅ ⌚ Samsung’s best smartwatch with optimal fitness tracking
✅ 😪 Groundbreaking Sleep Apnea detection is a major win
✅ 🔘 Three physical buttons for quick access to shortcuts
✅ 🏃♂️ Multi-sport mode and robust fitness tracking software
✅ 😴 Sleep Score, 📈 Energy Score & 📋 Wellness Tips
✅ 🔋 Day-and-a-half battery (100 hours with power saving)
✅ 📶 Dual-band GPS for accurate indoor/outdoor tracking
✅ 🧲 Magnetic lugs make swapping out bands incredibly easy
Cons
❌ 💰 At $649, it’s Samsung’s priciest watch (but cheaper than Apple’s)
❌ ♊ Lots of feature-overlap with the cheaper Galaxy Watch 7
❌ 🔄 No rotating bezel nor rotating crown in favor of “digital bezel”
❌ 📐 Chunkier than your normal smartwatch
❌ 🔢 Limited first-party straps due to new interface
I also dig its Energy Score, an easy-to-understand daily readiness number. Since the Watch Ultra is Android-only, its true competition is actually Samsung Galaxy Watch 7, which is cheaper and sleeker with enough sensor and feature overlap for most people.
Samsung’s pre-order discounts, boosted trade-in credits, Reserve credit, and free storage upgrades EXPIRE across all devices on Tuesday night.
🐦 Ask Matt Swider on Twitter or Instagram for hand-picked deals from Walmart / Best Buy / Amazon / B&H / Samsung / Google / GameStop / Xbox / Microsoft Office (PC) / MS Office (Mac)
💻 2. Microsoft Y2K24 outage: 8.5 million PCs affected, 46,000 flights canceled
⛓️💥 8.5 million Microsoft Windows devices went offline globally this weekend
🫵 Finger pointing: Cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike blamed for faulty update
✈️ 46,000 delayed or canceled flights; banks, hospitals taken offline
☕ Starbucks mobile ordering and ❎ Xbox came back online on Saturday
🔺 It’s ain’t over: Delta grounded 1,250 flights today, according to Reuters
🟦 Seeing Microsoft’s infamous Blue Screen of Death go global shows the impact of relying on one IT solution (and not A/B testing)
📱 3. Google’s new Pixel phones revealed – including its second-gen Fold
👀 Our 1st official look at Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold and Pixel 9 Pro
📸 Cameras are stacked! The Fold has a larger camera module this time
💊 A fresh pill-shaped camera design replaces the prior ‘visor’ look
✨ Google is heavily promoting its Gemini AI software on this phone
📆 August 13: we’ll see as many as four Pixel 9 phones + Pixel Watch 3
Notice the camera difference? ⤵️
Programming note: The Shortcut will be at the Made by Google event on August 13. Look for our impressions of the new devices at that time.
🎮 4. More evidence PS5 Pro will launch this fall with ‘ultra’ graphics setting
🕵️♂️ PS5 Pro, codenamed Trinity, has been spotted in No Man’s Sky update
👾 Games could run with high to ultra graphical detail on the new PS5
🕹️ Dynamic resolution scaling is said to run higher on the PS5 Pro vs PS5
🗃️ More evidence overall points to a better PS5 Pro gaming experience
📆 Rumors suggest a September announcement with a November release
Evidence that PS5 Pro is coming soon is mounting, and it backs up the rumors that the new Sony console will launch this fall. The report that PS5 Pro will be at the Tokyo Game Show in September seems more plausible every day.
💻 5. HP OmniBook Ultra hands-on: this laptop has an AI camera and assistant
Pros
✅ 😍 Beautiful 14-inch Ultrabook with a 2.2K display
✅ ⚙️ AMD Ryzen AI 9 300 can run games at 60fps even unplugged
✅ 🤖 55 TOPs of AI processing power, 44% more vs Apple M4 chip
✅ 📸 9MP AI-powered webcam with superb auto-framing like a robot arm
✅ 📐 Two 45° corners, one of which conceals a USB-C TB4 port
✅ 🔋 Big 65Whr battery said to last 21 hours (video); 13 hours (IRL usage)
Cons
❌💡 At 3,000 nits, it could be brighter (MacBook Air is 4,000, Pro is 5,000)
❌ ♊ HP’s AI Companion overlaps with Windows 11’s built-in CoPilot
When / How much?
📆 Coming soon: HP OmniBook Ultra launch in August 2024
💰 Price: it will start at $1,449, according to HP
6. Halo TV show canceled on Paramount, Apple TV+ budgets pulled back
👎 Halo has been canceled after just two seasons, reports Variety
🍿 Paramount+ turned the Xbox franchise into a live-action TV show
🙌 There’s a chance Season 3 will happen, as producers shop it around
🍎 News comes as Apple TV+ bosses reportedly pull back on lavish budgets
🧠 What I find fascinating about Halo’s cancellation and Apple TV+ pulling back on spending is that we’ll never know how many people actually watch these streaming TV shows. Unlike traditional TV, streaming giants never report viewership numbers.
7. ASUS ROG Ally X is here – Best Buy has the PC gaming handheld on sale
Pros
✅😌 Bigger grips make the Asus Ally X more comfortable to hold
✅🔋 Larger battery promises three to eight hours of battery life
✅🕹️ Tighter thumbsticks and a more accurate D-Pad are greatly improved inputs
✅⚖️ The Ally X has hardly grown in thickness or weight despite changes
✅🧠 Larger memory & storage for only $100 more than the ROG Ally
Cons
❌📺 The screen remains the same down to its large, ugly bezels
❌⚙️ No direct tweaks to the Z1 Extreme chip to make the Ally X faster
😎 8. Glasshole: Google is trying to steal the Meta Ray-Ban relationship
😎 Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses are cool – so much so that Google wants in
🤖 Google wants to put Gemini AI in future Ray-Ban glasses, reports The Verge
🏦 EssilorLuxottica, the owner of Ray-Ban and Oakley, can make bank
💰 Meta was already going to invest billions to get a 5% stake in EssilorLuxottica
🔥 It could spark a surge in partnerships: Silicon Vally x glasses companies
🍎 Don’t be surprised if others enter the fray down the line. It’s too hot.
🥳 Why it’s fun: I’ve tested the Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses and love them. They take short, hands-free videos (and photos) in a tall 9:16 aspect ratio (ideal for Instagram Reels). They just work.
🆚 Comparison: There’s no display in the glasses, so it’s very different from the screen-and-sensor-filled Apple Vision Pro that I reviewed in February.
🧠 Eventually: Apple’s souped-up AR tech and Meta’s stripped-down camera tech will meet in the middle. Apple Vision will get lighter and cheaper every year until it becomes glasses. Meta will add more tech to its glasses until they’re full-featured.
9. PlayStation Portal’s best-selling status bodes well for Sony’s PSP 2 in 2025
💸 PlayStation Portal continues to sell well despite initial doubts by fans
🎮 Sony is said to be working on PS5 Pro, likely to launch in September
🙌 A true PSP 2 handheld is also rumored to arrive as soon as next year
📈 Continued console and accessories sales bode well for both devices
Sony’s PlayStation Portal remote player is the best-selling gaming accessory of 2024 so far, according to an executive at a top video game analysis firm. That bodes well for the upcoming PS5 Pro this fall and next year’s PSP 2 handheld.
10. Samsung shifts to Google Messages in the US on Galaxy Fold 6 and Flip 6
💬 Google Messages will be the default messenger on new Samsung phones
📱 This includes the Galaxy Fold 6 and Galaxy Flip 6 I’m reviewing now
🇺🇸 So far, this is limited to the US, where Apple’s simple iMessage dominate
🤖 Google is coalescing partners around one RCS message platform – finally
👍 It’s a step in the right direction for Android vs Apple – but…
🙅♂️ It won’t hide your green bubbles on your judgy iPhone friends
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