Articles by Jerry Hildenbrand

Google’s hardware always leaks months before anything is even close to release.

The latest rumor says that Google is going to release a “true flagship” Pixel in March 2021. There’s no reason to even consider this one, though.

To be fair, the latest person to utter the words out loud (in 2020 Twitter is the new out loud) is Max Weinbach and even he doesn’t seem to give it much weight, calling unsubstantiated.

This is the biggest rumor I’ve heard in ages, and I mean this is an unsubstantiated rumor I’ve heard from like 2 people so absolutely don’t believe it, but apparently there’s a true flagship Pixel coming out in like March 2021. Again, unsubstantiated rumor.— Max Weinbach (@MaxWinebach) October 29, 2020

Of course, a lot of people are ignoring the unsubstantiated part and only remember that Weinbach does get a lot of early leaks and has a good track record. That doesn’t change anything this time, though, and I’m going to have to say nope. This one isn’t happening.

Googl…

The magic of a Pixel isn’t on a spec sheet. It’s in the software.

I hate the word flagship. It’s a fine word to describe a company’s best product, but the way it gets thrown around when talking about tech makes it meaningless. Unfortunately, it’s really the only way to describe the top-tier category of mobile devices in a way everyone understands. So we all use it.

In that context, I want to talk about Google and its place among the most flagship-ish best phones. Specifically, how Google didn’t offer one in 2020, and how that’s a really smart move by a company that is slowly but surely increasing its hardware revenue.

The only words worse than Flagship Phone are Flagship Killer.

Google shipped three new Pixel phones in 2020 and none of them qualify as flagships according to Android enthusiasts: the Pixel 4a and 4a 5G, and the Pixel 5. That wasn’t an accident, and any conspiracy theory about Google being unable to source flagship hardware is dumb and wrong. It primarily shows …

Apple spent time and money to integrate magnets into and around high-powered induction coils. Did the company that makes your phone do the same?

By now you probably know that Apple’s new MagSafe iPhone 12 chargers mostly seem to work on some Android phones, like the Pixel 5 or the Galaxy Z Fold 2. It also works with other iPhones that weren’t designed to be used with the new accessory in the same way. You might be thinking to yourself that this is awesome news, but you should also know that right now you might not want to do it.

Samsung needs to copy the idea, but in the meantime be smart and let someone else experiment.

Yes, I’m the same person who said Samsung totally needs to steal the idea and that using magnets to hold a charger or cable in place isn’t anything new. Why then am I not excited to try the new MagSafe charger on any of my phones, then? Because only the iPhone 12 was designed inside and out to be used with a Qi high-powered (high-power for wireless devices, an…

A day away from the internet and all those notifications can cleanse your soul.

My wife likes to say that I am the internet. I work over the internet all day, I play games over the internet, and I look to the internet when it’s time to settle in and watch a movie or a show. I guess she’s right.

2020 has been hell for everyone.

But these past six months have been hell. Not just for me, but for everyone. Being cooped up inside or trying to stay six feet away from anything on two legs is stressful enough, but once you run out of things to do, you end up spending more and more time on your phone or at the computer. My wife and I decided that enough was enough and we needed to get away.

This past Wednesday, I borrowed a friend’s boat and drove up to the top of a mountain where, at the end of the overgrown Jeep trail, was a big lake. We loaded up with a cooler filled with sandwiches and cheap beer (my wife was the designated driver that day) along with a bunch of fishing tackle, bu…

The Nest Audio sounds good and is mighty convenient but I like things that go to 11.

By all accounts, Google has outdone itself with the Nest Audio. It sounds pretty good, you can pair two of them for a true stereo experience, and of course, having Google Assistant built-in means it’s more than a speaker. I used to think Google didn’t need to make an original Google Home replacement, but I was wrong.

The Nest Audio is great for almost everyone. Almost.

But one thing Nest Audio doesn’t do so well is integrating into any existing audio setup. And a lot of people already have some sort of stereo system they already like. It would be great if it could pass through a quality source to another amp and speakers like the Chromecast Audio did — or still does, if you are holding on to one or more.

That’s where I’m at. I love listening to music and have several small bookshelf setups scattered around. One in my office, one in the living room, one in the bedroom, and one in the worksho…

Releasing too many good phones too close together can’t be great for individual sales numbers.

The rumor mill says that the Samsung Galaxy S21 will be unveiled this coming January or February, just months after the already popular Galaxy S20 FE came to market. It’s smart to do the first “big” phone release of the year and get ahead of the competition with the latest chip and the newest Samsung display. But it’s also a little weird when there are so many great phones released so close together by the same company. While it’s great for the consumer, it’s also tough to hit those huge sales numbers phone makers are used to seeing.

Only Samsung can make a phone as good as Samsung.

I’m talking about Samsung, of course. Samsung just released two of its best phones ever with the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra in August 2020 and the Galaxy S20 Fan Edition in October. These phones cover both ends of the buying spectrum when it comes to price and value. The Note 20 Ultra is the best phone for peop…

Consumers are going to have to learn about 5G and its fundamentals because your carrier is more concerned with control.

When I found out that T-Mobile had “unlocked” 5G where I live, I was excited to try it. I have access to all three major carriers (press F for Sprint in the comments) as well as several MVNOs but T-Mobile works best here, so my personal line is on the magenta giant. My work phone happens to be on Google Fi, and it meant that I also had 5G there, too. I was all WOOHOO! and itching to try it.

I did. It sucks.

I knew it was going to suck and I knew why, so I wasn’t really disappointed. For starters, T-Mobile coverage maps have a very different definition of “excellent coverage” than you or I do, so the signal isn’t the best in my sleepy little town. The 5G T-Mobile likes to remind us all it has from coast to coast across the U.S. is what’s known as low band 5G, which isn’t designed to be faster than LTE; it’s about more bandwidth to carry more data. That means it’…

Got a song stuck in your head but don’t know the name? Ask Google to help you figure it out.

What you need to know

Google can now identify a song that you’re whistling or humming.
The service is already live for almost everyone.
It’s using Google’s sophisticated cloud AI infrastructure to do something fun as well as helpful.

During Google’s SearchOn 2020 live stream the company announced quite a few updates and improvements to its search machine, but it left the best for last. After the useful but not nearly as fun announcements about what AI can do when mixed in with information gathering, we learned that you can now have Google tell you the name of a song by humming or whistling its tune.

On top of being a showcase of what an advanced AI and neural computing can do, It’s actually really cool. I’m pretty bad when it comes to humming or whistling, but it really does work. How it works is interesting — a Google AI cluster in the cloud analyzes the tune you’re humming, presum…

The right way to verify a photo or video isn’t trying to see if it’s a fake; it’s trying to see if it’s authentic and there is a difference.

Truepic is a small company from San Diego that you’ve probably never heard of. But what it’s doing — developing a way to spot fake photos and video using your phone’s camera and hardware — is something the world really needs.

Whether it’s a political ad or a photo from a used car dealer, fake media is real. We see it shared on social media every day, mostly by people who have no idea if what they are sharing is real or not. Sometimes it’s funny and, fake or not, is shared as a joke. But other times altered photos and videos are used to change some company’s or some person’s reputation. At times like the current U.S. election season or the social unrest you’re seeing on the streets every day, it makes for a flood of disinformation.

Fake media can be funny or it can be dangerous. But it is real.

It’s dangerous and everyone knows it. Bu…

The S20 FE is the most Android phone ever made, as well as one of the best.

I get a lot of feedback saying that I’m too tough or unfair to Google, Samsung, and Qualcomm. That’s because it’s true; I hold those three companies to a higher standard than other brands because they are all obviously more capable than other brands. We should expect the very best from each at all times, and when they fall short, they should be called out.

I expect the best from companies that are the best. You should, too.

What probably doesn’t come across because I spend time pointing out their shortcomings is that I think all three of those companies are the very best at what they do when it comes to Android or smartphones in general. Google writes and maintains the best software platform you can buy into today in Android 11, Samsung makes the best smartphone components and some of the best phones money can buy, and Qualcomm has perfected the art of building a complete mobile application processor b…