The Weekly Authority: ✋ Pixel 7a hands-on, CES surprises

⚡ Welcome to the Weekly Authority, the  Android Authority newsletter that breaks down the top Android and tech news from the week. The 226th edition here, with everything from CES 2023, a hands-on look at the Pixel 7a, the OnePlus 11 launch, some of the biggest video game releases this month, and more.

🤯 It’s the first Weekly Authority of 2023, and I started the year by watching Noah Baumbach’s latest movie, White Noise. If anybody can explain to me what on earth it is about, I’d be most grateful…

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Popular news this week

Google:

• Leaked video may give us our first hands-on look at the Pixel 7a, and it looks a lot like the current Pixel 7 lineup, with a matte camera visor, flat screen, and physical buttons on the right side. The biggest reveal is a refresh rate bump to 90Hz, plus higher-end features like the Tensor G2 chip, upgraded cameras, and wireless charging.
• The Pixel’s January software update has broken auto Bluetooth pairing for some.
• Google’s huge Vegas billboard tells Apple to stop dropping the ball.
• And Google’s bringing Android support to RISC-V, and that’s a big deal.

Samsung:

• Leaked press renders of the Galaxy S23 series colors show green, pink, and more.
• Samsung Galaxy A54 specs leak: Rumored Exynos 1380 SoC, 6.4-inch FHD+ 120Hz AMOLED display, and 5,000mAh battery with 25W wired charging.
• Plus: Samsung built an oven that can livestream your cooking.
• And Samsung’s new SmartThings Station is a hub, smart button, and wireless charger all in one, supporting Matter accessories out of the box, shipping to the US in early February 2023.
• Also: Samsung projects lowest profits in 8 years owing to weak smartphone demand. 

OnePlus:

• The OnePlus 11 finally launched on Wednesday, but China-only for now, with a global release set for February 7: It packs a 6.7-inch 120Hz AMOLED display, Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip, up to 16GB RAM, up to 512GB storage, and a 5,000mAH battery with 100W SuperVOOC fast charging.
• Also, OnePlus might skip the OnePlus 11 Pro this year.

Apple:

• Apple’s AR/VR headset will reportedly feature a physical dial for switching to a view of the real world, plus an outward-facing display to show a user’s facial expressions — will likely debut at spring media event or WWDC in June.
• Apple reportedly working on ‘AirPods Lite’ to compete with cheaper wireless earbuds.
• And Apple is increasing battery replacement service charges for out-of-warranty devices by up to $50.

Amazon:

• Amazon announces Matter-over-Thread is coming to Echo devices this spring.
• And Amazon has confirmed that it plans to lay off 18,000 people.

Social media:

• New year, new Twitter drama: Twitter sued for not paying San Francisco office rent — apparently, the company is $136,250 behind on payments.
• TikTok begins rolling out the ability for creators to restrict videos to adult viewers.
• And Snap Camera is being discontinued, so enjoy one last hurrah with your favorite filters.

Space:

• NASA’s Artemis 1 Orion spacecraft returns to Kennedy Space Center.
• Brace yourself for the E3 comet’s closest approach to earth at the start of February, when the space rock and its green tail could be visible to the naked eye.
• Why 2023 should be dubbed ‘Year of the Lunar Landers.’

Elsewhere: 

• This upcoming smartphone will hit the limit of USB-C charging speeds with 240W charging.
• WhatsApp can now let you bypass internet crackdowns.
• Fossil announces Gen 6 Hybrid Wellness Edition with 2-week battery life.
• And Citizen’s new smartwatch uses NASA technology to help you reduce fatigue, expected to go on sale in March.
• You can now buy a wearable sleep tracker for your baby: Halo SleepSure provides customizable alerts and helps track a baby’s sleep at home or on the move.
• There’s a new Qi2 wireless charging standard coming in 2023, but does it mean MagSafe is coming to Android?
• Meanwhile, this dashcam of your dreams comes with T-Mobile connectivity and AI smarts.
• Eve’s newest smart home devices are launching with Matter out of the box.
• Microsoft and OpenAI are aiming for a ChatGPT-backed Bing version to compete with Google.
• Speaking of, New York City schools ban ChatGPT to head off a cheating epidemic.
• Also, Sam Bankman-Fried pleads not guilty in a New York federal court on Tuesday to the eight charges against him.
• Tesla’s stock plummeted more than 12% on Tuesday for the company’s worst trading session in two years.
• Plus: Companies can ‘hire’ a virtual person for about $14k a year in China — The digitized humans are created with a combination of animation, sound tech, and machine learning.

Movies/TV:

• Weekend watching, sorted: The best streaming shows you might have missed in 2022, plus the 15 best movies of 2022, and where to watch them.
• We’ve also got the best new streaming movies this week, from horror comedy Freaky to the hilarious satire Honk for Jesus, Save Your Soul.
• Plus, check out Gizmodo’s roundup of the 28 best sci-fi, horror, and fantasy movies of 2022.
• Plex Discover will exit beta in Q1 2023.
• Netflix’s 1899 is the latest show to be mysteriously canceled after just one season.
• And Netflix hit Glass Onion’s Among Us scene is a big moment for gaming.
• We got a sneak peek at the new Gran Turismo movie.
• And Renfield trailer introduces Nicolas Cage’s Count Dracula.

Gaming: 

• This is why we can’t have nice things: The person behind popular PS2 emulator AetherSX2 for Android has ceased development, citing death threats.
• Asus’ new Xbox controller rocks an OLED display and tri-mode connectivity.
• Alienware’s new gaming laptops include an 18-inch beast, and it also reveals its first 500Hz gaming monitor, coming in the next few months.
• The Razer Edge cloud gaming handheld lands on January 26, costing $400 for the Wi-Fi model, but you may have to pay an extra $200 for 5G connectivity.
• And Sony says the PlayStation 5 shortage is over.
• Here are the biggest video game releases coming this month, including Forspoken and the Dead Space reimagining.
• Microsoft gets its first union: Around 300 video game testers at the company’s ZeniMax Studios (Fallout), voted to form a union that Microsoft has officially recognized, and it’s the video game industry’s biggest to date.
• Good news for Hitman 3 owners: You can get the previous two games for free.
• Got a Switch for Christmas? Amazon and Best Buy’s Nintendo Switch Online deal brings a one-year family plan and a 256GB microSD card down to $50.

Reviews

• Sony PSVR 2 hands-on: A massive jump forward from the original — “A huge upgrade from the PSVR in every way that matters.”
• TCL RayNeo X2 hands-on: Maybe the world is ready for Google Glass now? “These AR glasses have some really useful features.”
• TCL Nxtpaper Phone Concept hands-on: I’m in love — “Imagine an Amazon Kindle mashed with a OnePlus One and a Pixel 5. Yeah, I’d buy that.”
• Lenovo ThinkPhone hands-on: The business phone you might actually buy — “Is it the Motorola flagship of our dreams? Technically, no, but also yes.” 

Features 

• What is the Titan M2 security chip in Google’s Pixel phones? “The Titan M2 chip makes Google’s Pixel phones more secure, here’s how it works” (Android Authority).
• Is cable TV dying? Here’s what streaming’s takeover might actually look like — “With cord cutting now the norm, can linear TV hold out much longer?” (Android Authority).
• Video games need better dinosaurs. Paleontologists can help — “WIRED visited the Geological Society of America conference to learn about the untapped potential of gigantic reptiles in gaming” (Wired).
• Police identified the Idaho killings suspect with DNA databases, multiple outlets report, and the practice is controversial — Some argue using the tech in this way is a violation of privacy (Business Insider).
• A drug to treat aging may not be a pipe dream — “New approaches to the biology of senescence can make lives longer and healthier” (Wired).
• Why free stuff makes us irrational — “When something is free, people feel a positive glow — and standard cost-benefit analyses go out the window” (The Hustle).

Weekly Wonder

With CES 2023 drawing to a close this weekend, we’ve gathered together a few of the top reveals and launches from the world’s largest tech show, including all the Android announcements from Google…

Smartphones:

• Samsung announced the budget-priced Galaxy A14 5G, packing a 6.6-inch display with 90Hz refresh rate and 64GB of onboard storage for $199.99, but no release date as yet.
• TCL launches 40 series phones, some coming to North America soon.
• Qualcomm announced the Snapdragon Satellite feature, a satellite-based service for emergencies and two-way communication.
• Qualcomm could be beaten to the punch, though: Bullitt Group, the company behind CAT phones, announced a two-way satellite messaging service, to debut on an upcoming Motorola Defy rugged smartphone.

Computing:

• AMD announced Ryzen 7040 series processors with on-chip AI — the first devices utilizing the processors will be available in March.
• Lenovo announced the ThinkPad Plus Twist with a standard OLED display plus a 12-inch color e-ink display and also revealed the Lenovo Tab Extreme, a 14.5-inch tablet running Android 13 out of the box, coming sometime later this year.
• ASUS announced the 2023 Zenbook 14X, with a faster refresh rate and Raptor Lake CPUs.
• Dell announced the UltraSharp 6K monitor to rival LG’s and Apple’s best, with IPS Black technology, a 4K HDR webcam, and plenty of ports.
• Acer Swift Go notebooks bring OLED displays in light-and-thin chassis: There’ll be 14-inch and 16-inch models.
• The LG Gram Ultraslim notebook is the company’s thinnest laptop ever, measuring just 10.99mm when closed, plus LG announced new Gram Style notebooks in 14-inch and 16-inch versions.
• HP revealed the DragonFly Pro in Windows and Chromebook flavors.
• And Samsung made a laptop display that folds and slides at the same time: The Flex Hybrid.

Gaming:

• HTC announced the Vive XR Elite headset, offering support for both VR and XR content at a significantly cheaper price than the Meta Quest Pro.
• Sony’s Project Leonardo is a very different PS5 controller for gamers with disabilities.
• MSI announced a new version of its Titan GT77 gaming notebook, with the world’s first 4K 144Hz Mini LED display for a notebook, but no word on price or release date yet.
• From budget to high-end, Dell’s latest gaming laptops cover every need, all offering Geforce RTX 40 series GPUs.
• Speaking of Dell, it unveiled second-gen Concept Nyx, the gaming controller of the future.
• Razer unveiled its new generation of Razer Blade laptops, the Razer Blade 16 and 18, both using the latest 13th-gen Core i9 HX Intel processors.
• Gamers will also love Samsung’s new OLED S95C 4K TV with its 77-inch display and 144Hz refresh rate, plus its 75-inch QN95C 4K TV.
• Samsung also revealed the massive 57-inch Odyssey Neo G9 gaming monitor.
• Meanwhile, ASUS announced the Chromebook Vibe CX34 Flip, made specifically for PC cloud gaming, with support for GeForce Now and more, though no word yet on release date or price.

TVs:

• Samsung announced its new 2023 Neo QLED, MicroLED, and OLED TV lineup.
• New start-up tech company Displace showed off its 55-inch, 20-pound TV that’s completely wireless, launching late 2023 for $2,999.
• TCL announced its first 2023 smart TVs, and they’ll be sold in two model categories: The S-Series will be the new TCL budget TVs, while the Q-Series will include more advanced features such as QLED screens, with pricing and release dates yet TBA.
• Also: You probably can’t afford LG’s latest TVs — LG’s 136-inch micro-LED TV will set you back $250,000, while its new OLED TV costs $25,000.
• Plus: Roku to sell its own smart TVs this spring, with prices ranging from $119 to $999, OLED TVs to come later.

Audio:

• These AirPods Pro memory foam tips promise a better fit than the originals.
• Focal launched its Vestia speakers, geared towards both movie and music setups.
• And Audio-Technica re-released its iconic Sound Burger turntable.

Wearables:

• TechRadar has a great roundup of the best fitness kit at CES 2023, including smartwatches, sleep trackers, and more.

Smart home:

• Yeelight Cube is a cool new stackable Matter-powered smart lighting device with three models: Spot, Matrix, and Panel, available in March.
• Roborock showed off its new flagship self-cleaning robot vacuum that can wash its own mop, empty its dustbin, and refill its own water tank, with a new air-drying feature that prevents mold growth and odors.

Everything else:

• TCL unveiled its own Glass-esque AR smart glasses: the TCL RayNeo X2, as well as showing off a concept device: the TCL Nxtpaper Phone.
• Ring announces car cam to give your car more security.
• Chrysler’s cockpit concept is a preview of our screen-packed, button-less future.
• German Bionic debuts its lightest powered exosuit to date, plus an ergonomics-monitoring safety vest.
• Ember’s new temperature-controlled mug will support Apple’s Find My.
• And Canadian startup Glüxkind revealed its new $3,300 Ella self-driving stroller.

Tech Calendar

• January 5-8, 2023: CES 2023 (Las Vegas)
• January 24: Forspoken releases on PS5, PC
• January 26: Razer Edge released
• February (date TBC): Samsung Unpacked (Galaxy S23?)
• February 7: OnePlus 11 global launch
• February 22: PSVR 2 launch date

Tech Tweet of the Week

The adventures of one woman’s AirTag-ged lost luggage (h/t Mashable):

Something extra: We hope you got some nerdy books for Christmas, but never fear if not, as Shift Happens, the history of keyboards, is launching via a Kickstarter next month, and it’s a beaut!

Have a great week!

Paula Beaton, Copy Editor.