The Weekly Authority: 📦 Unpacking Galaxy Unpacked

⚡ Welcome to The Weekly Authority, the Android Authority newsletter that breaks down the top Android and tech news from the week. The 230th edition is here with all things Galaxy Unpacked, a Sony Xperia I V leak, the end of Sony’s PS Plus Collection, Punxsutawney Phil’s predictions, and more…

🧹 I’ve been debating all week whether to buy the Dead Space remake or wait for Hogwarts Legacy next week, and I just can’t decide. On the one hand, I loved the original Dead Space; on the other hand, HOGWARTS. Dilemma!

Popular news this week

Samsung:

• There’s a lot to unpack from Galaxy Unpacked this week (sorry!) including the S23 series, Galaxy Book 3 series laptops, and Samsung’s plans to start working on extended reality products. Keep reading for more on all of that in our Weekly Wonder, below.
• Speaking of the S23 series, it still has a GOS toggle despite power upgrade.
• One UI 5.1 changes leaked, including exclusive Galaxy S23 features.
• Meanwhile, Samsung predicted a dip in sales just ahead of the S23 launch, though it has some lofty Galaxy S23 series sales goals.
• Plus: Samsung partners with award-winning director Charlie Kaufman to showcase the Galaxy’s epic camera experience.

Google:

• The Pixel Tablet could come with two dock options, one could be charging-only.
• Google’s rolling out a fix for pesky Pixel Buds A-Series pairing bug.
• And Google is ready to take on ChatGPT, announces February 8 Search event.
• New Google generative AI model MusicLM generates music in various genres at 24 kHz.
• Plus: Google’s 2022 phones were its best-selling devices ever.
• Also: Google may turn your Android phone into a plug-and-play USB webcam, no app needed, but it’s not clear when or if the feature will be released.

OnePlus:

• Upcoming foldables: OnePlus V Fold and OnePlus V Flip could be the next Samsung rivals.
• OnePlus 11R renders leak: Basically a cheaper OnePlus 11?
• And OnePlus all but launches the OnePlus 11R ahead of February 7 event.

Nothing:

• Here’s what it’s like using the Nothing Phone 1 in the United States: It’s not as bad as you’d think.
• Coming this year: ‘More premium’ Nothing Phone 2 confirmed with US launch ‘number one priority.’
• And Nothing Ear 2 leaks again: More like Nothing Ear 1 2023 Edition?

Apple:

• Analyst says Apple to launch a foldable iPad next year.
• And Apple’s first AR headset could have pretty awful battery life for $3,000.
• Famous last words? Tim Cook on the possibility of Apple layoffs: ‘A last resort kind of thing.’
• Also: Unopened first-generation iPhone set to sell for $50,000 at US auction.

Social media:

• Facebook can secretly kill your phone batteries, former employee claims.
• Meta is spending more than $1 billion per month on the Metaverse.
• An “Everything” app: Twitter now wants to become a payments platform to compete with Apple Pay and PayPal.
• Plus: Twitter will start charging developers for API access from February 9, as Elon Musk seeks to drive revenue.
• And Instagram’s co-founders are back with Artifact, a kind of TikTok for text.

Space:

• NASA’s sending a spaceship to explore rare asteroid that could be worth 70,000 times the global economy.
• And NASA Mars rover has discovered an alien rock.
• Also: SpaceX astronauts will receive the Congressional Space Medal of HONOR.

Elsewhere: 

• Leaked Xperia 1 V image may give us our first look at Sony’s next flagship.
• The Galaxy Z Fold 4 will finally have some competition at MWC, from HONOR.
• Triple OPPO-rtunity: Another ultra-premium phone could be getting a one-inch camera sensor.
• And vivo X90, X90 Pro go global: Where’s the X90 Pro Plus?
• Meta may be working on a new version of its previously canceled smartwatch.
• Meanwhile, the US has dealt the final blow to HUAWEI’s phone business: It can’t even use 4G Snapdragon chipsets in its phones.
• China smartphone market slumps to 10-year low in 2022.
• Speaking of China, the country’s biggest search engine is launching a ChatGPT rival next month.
• OpenAI has now launched a tool to detect AI-generated text from sources like ChatGPT.
• And you can now pay for a more powerful version of OpenAI’s ChatGPT bot, for $20 a month.
• The latest T-Mobile breach affected Google Fi customers too.
• Boeing’s 747, the original jumbo jet, prepares for final send-off after more than five decades of commercial service.
• A genetic engineering company will try to resurrect the dodo because it sure is the most exciting extinct animal.
• Also: A lost radioactive capsule smaller than a penny has been found after four long days of an emergency search across Western Australia.
• And some bad news: Punxusutwaney Phil predicted six more weeks of winter this Groundhog Day.

Movies/TV

• Dive into this week’s best new streaming movies, including erotic rom-com Secretary and crime thriller Killing Them Softly.
• Peacock has killed off its free tier to new users. Let’s hope this doesn’t become a trend across the industry.
• The best use for AI eye contact tech is making movie stars look straight at the camera.
• The latest ‘Super Mario Bros. Movie’ trailer pits Cat Mario against Donkey Kong.
• The Last of Us Episode 3 was emotional — A supporting character gets a hopeful, and heartbreaking, standalone story, and here’s why Bill and Frank’s story got changed.
• On that note, The Last of Us marks HBO’s second-largest debut, is renewed for a second season.
• Phew: The fungal infection from The Last of Us isn’t a risk, according to mycologist.
• Meanwhile, James Gunn and Peter Safran outline their DC Studios movie projects which include two Batman movies and a Man of Steel reboot
• Plus: Andrea Riseborough’s best actress nomination might be rescinded after rules violation.
• And ‘Squid Game’ reality show participants say it was a rigged, freezing cold disaster.

Gaming: 

• The best Google Stadia alternatives: Where to go now that the service is dead.
• Apex Legends Mobile is shutting down after less than a year, due to challenges related to the “content pipeline.”
• And Sony’s PlayStation Plus Collection for PS5 is coming to an end in May: Grab those 20 PS4 games now.
• The remastered version of 1997’s GoldenEye 007 is now available on Nintendo Switch and Xbox.
• Don’t have a PlayStation 5 yet? PS5 supply has been increased, so it should be “much easier” to get one, Sony says.
• Speaking of Sony, it may not be done with Uncharted: Fans think it’s teasing a new Uncharted starring Nathan Drake’s kid.
• And according to Bloomberg, Sony slashes PlayStation VR2 output after pre-orders disappoint, however, Sony denies it.
• Also: Sony’s latest PlayStation stats look good — The company sold 30 million PS5s from November 2020 through December 2022, while PlayStation Network has 112 million monthly active users.
• Star Wars Jedi: SurVivor is now delayed until the end of April, as Respawn needs more time to polish up the game.
• Plus: EA has canceled a new single-player game set in the Titanfall and Apex Legends universe.

Reviews

• Hands-on with the Samsung Galaxy S23 series: Different enough? — We dive into Samsung’s latest.
• Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra vs Galaxy S23 Plus vs Galaxy S23: Which one to buy? “We help you pick your next premium Samsung handset.”
• Amazon Kindle Scribe review: Not very remarkable, still note-worthy — Taking Amazon’s biggest e-reader with note-taking capabilities for a spin.
• Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra vs Google Pixel 7 Pro: Which should you buy? “It’s Google’s brains against Samsung’s brawn, and you can only pick one.”
• Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra vs Galaxy Z Flip 4: Which should you buy? “The Galaxy S23 Ultra is a powerhouse, but the Galaxy Z Flip 4 is quite enticing.”

Features

• Confused about ChatGPT? Here’s everything you need to know about OpenAI’s new language model (Android Authority).
• Samsung Galaxy S23: Why isn’t there an Exynos model? “We won’t have to worry about which region has the more powerful processor this year” (Android Authority).
• Ex-Twitter workers puzzle over Elon Musk’s abandoned laptops: “The cash-strapped company recently auctioned off USB dongles but has left some corporate computers in the custody of laid-off staff” (Wired).
• 23 good things already happening in 2023: The healing ozone layer, a win for bees, and more (Mashable).
• ChatGPT is making universities rethink plagiarism: “Students and professors can’t decide whether the AI chatbot is a research tool — or a cheating engine” (Wired).

Weekly Wonder

Missed Galaxy Unpacked on Wednesday? You can catch the official replay here, or keep reading for everything you missed.

• Of course, we saw the launch of the S23 series phones, including the S23, S23 Plus, and S23 Ultra.
• All are powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy SoC, offering a minor CPU and GPU speed upgrade over the vanilla chipset.
• All also pack wireless charging and an IP68 rating, plus the same 12MP ultrawide rear, 10MP 3x telephoto, and 12MP selfie shooter.
• This time around, everyone gets the Snapdragon version — there’s no Exynos variant.
• You’ll also get Samsung’s excellent update policy with four OS updates and five years of security protection.
• The vanilla S23 packs a flat 6.1-inch screen, a 3,900mAh battery with 25W wired charging, 128GB of base storage, and no UWB.
• The S23 Plus boasts a flat 6.5-inch FHD+ screen, a 4,700mAh battery with 45W wired charging, 256GB of base storage, and UWB.
• Both phones also share the same camera system.
• But it’s the Ultra that’s the pack leader here, with its 6.8-inch QHD+ screen, 5,000mAh battery with 45W wired charging, 200MP main camera and 10MP 10x periscope camera, and S Pen slot.
• There’s no satellite connectivity, though, and here’s why Samsung skipped it.
• Not sure which one to go for? Check out our hands-on review and versus articles to help you choose.
• Still not sure the S23 is for you? We’ve got six Galaxy S23 alternatives worth considering.
• Also, in case you missed it, Nothing’s Carl Pei took to Twitter to poke fun at the S23 series.

S23 series pricing

• Good news for US customers — pricing for the S23 series remains the same as the S22 series, starting at $799 for the S23, $999 for the S23 Plus, and $1,199 for the S23 Ultra.
• Not such great news for those in the UK and the rest of Europe (as well as India and South Africa), where you’ll pay a higher price, for the most part.
• Samsung also announced a permanent price cut for the vanilla S22, now$699 in the US.

Galaxy Book 3 series

We saw more than just new phones at Samsung’s event — with the new Galaxy Book 3 series of laptops also making an appearance.

• That included the 14-inch and 16-inch Galaxy Book 3 Pro, 360 and Pro 360 convertibles, and an Ultra model.
• All pack 512GB to 1TB NVMe storage, 3K AMOLED screens, and AKG quad speakers.
• Barring the Ultra, all models also have a 13th Gen Core i7 CPU and Intel Iris XE graphics.
• 🤤 The Ultra’s the king, with a core i9 CPU and RTX graphics, though the Pro 360 convertible shares a few Ultra features like more RAM and a 120Hz refresh rate.
• Prices range from $1,299.99 to $2,199.99

What else?

Samsung also announced plans to start working on extended reality products.

• This could include virtual, augmented, and mixed-reality products.
• It’ll team up with Google, Qualcomm, Meta, and Microsoft, though we don’t know many more details yet.
• We expect Qualcomm to provide the chip and Google to offer the platform.

Tech Calendar

• February 6-13: Steam NextFest
• February 7: OnePlus 11 global launch (and OnePlus Buds Pro 2)
• February 7 @ 8:30 AM ET: Google Search event
• February 10: Hogwarts Legacy releases on PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Microsoft Windows (deluxe edition releases February 7)
• February 22: PSVR 2 launch date
• February 27: HONOR Magic Vs foldable global launch
• February 27-March 2: MWC 2023 Barcelona

Tech Tweet of the Week

Something extra: This game challenges you to find the shortest path between two movies (h/t: The Hustle).

Until next week, have a great one!

Paula Beaton, Copy Editor.