The Weekly Authority: 📅 Galaxy Unpacked date confirmed

⚡ Welcome to The Weekly Authority, the Android Authority newsletter that breaks down the top Android and tech news from the week. The 227th edition is here with a confirmed Galaxy Unpacked date, Galaxy S23 teaser videos, eSIM transfer profiles for Pixels, Ubisoft delays, AI interns, and much, much more.

😲 My week has been spent terrifying myself with The Callisto Protocol, scaring myself senseless at the local Surgical Museum’s jars of body parts, and getting the black comedy spooks watching The Menu. That ending! 

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Popular news this week

Samsung:

• Samsung reveals Galaxy Unpacked date for the Galaxy S23 series: February 1 at 1 PM ET is the date for your diaries.
• Ahead of Unpacked, Samsung drops first official Galaxy S23 teaser videos, and new S23 renders give us a closer look at the base flagship.
• Good news, Samsung fans. The latest Galaxy S23 leak suggests base storage is going up this year.
• And Samsung could skip the Galaxy S24 Plus in 2024.
• Also: Bill Gates has upgraded from his Galaxy Z Fold 3, the Microsoft co-founder noted in his Reddit AMA.
• Plus: Galaxy Watches and Buds 2 Pro are now better companions for your phone’s camera as Samsung rolls out updates.

Google:

• Android 13 could soon allow you to transfer eSIM profiles on Pixel phones: This could take the pain out of upgrading or switching devices.
• And Android 13 QPR2 introduces 20 new emoji to Pixel phones, including a donkey.
• Google’s Extension SDK brings new features to older versions of Android.
• The January 2023 update is here for Google Pixel Watch, fixes an issue that would see third-party watch faces turn off after 15 minutes with the always-on display enabled.
• Plus: YouTube will begin sharing ad revenue with Shorts creators on February 1.

OnePlus:

• It’s the end of the software update line for OnePlus 7, OnePlus 7T as the phones receive their final updates.
• We thought we’d seen the first OnePlus Nord 3 details, suggesting the phone was on track for June/July launch, codenamed “Larry,” but it looks like the phone in question is actually the OnePlus Nord CE 3.

Nothing:

• Looking for a budget phone? Nothing Phone 1 comes to the US through beta membership.

Apple:

• The iPhone 16 series could offer under-display Face ID next year.
• Apple may ditch physical power and volume buttons on the iPhone 15 Pro.
• Apple is planning to ditch Qualcomm and Broadcom for its own Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and 5G chips.
• And ‘xrOS’ for AR/VR headset takes priority over iOS 17 features, augmented reality Apple Store experience coming soon.
• Also: Apple could launch a touchscreen MacBook Pro in 2025, and purportedly switch from LCD screens to OLED panels as part of this overhaul.
• Plus: Apple to begin making in-house screens in 2024 in shift away from Samsung, starting with the Apple Watch.
• And Tim Cook takes a $35 million pay cut that he recommended, reducing his pay by more than 40%.

Microsoft:

• Microsoft pivots to foldable screens, ditches its initial Surface Duo 3 plans.
• And Microsoft is reportedly looking to embed OpenAI’s ChatGPT into Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook.
• Speaking of ChatGPT, Microsoft reportedly plans to invest $10 billion in the tool’s creator, OpenAI, though it’s not yet clear whether the deal has been finalized.
• Creepy or cool? Microsoft’s new text-to-speech model VALL-E just needs to hear three seconds of your voice to mimic you.
• Plus: Microsoft employees are getting unlimited time off — The company joins the likes of Netflix, Salesforce, and others in offering the policy.

Amazon:

• Mickey and the gang telling you the weather forecast will soon be a reality: Amazon’s ‘Hey Disney’ voice assistant is coming to your home Echo devices.
• Buy with Prime, which expands Prime shipping to more third-party shopping sites, officially launches in US on January 31, but you’ll need a Prime subscription.

Social media:

• Twitter has reportedly laid off more of its global content moderation team.
• Move over TikTok, Twitter now defaults to a For You page.
• And Twitter could launch in-app ‘coins’ to help creators make money.
• Instagram’s redesigned home screen ditches the shopping tab.
• And Meta rolls out AI ad-targeting tech in an effort to reduce discrimination.

Space:

• The UK’s first orbital space launch on Monday ended in failure.
• NASA is funding ideas for a Titan seaplane and faster deep space travel.
• And NASA’s 38-year-old science satellite falls safely to Earth.
• Also this week: Russia will abandon Soyuz on orbit, fly up a new one to bring crew home — The replacement capsule comes after the current Soyuz capsule attached to the ISS sprung a major coolant leak, likely due to a micro-meteorite strike.
• Plus: The James Webb Telescope confirmed its first exoplanet discovery, 99% the diameter of Earth.

Elsewhere: 

• A 7-year-old smartphone will finally stop receiving updates this year.
• T-Mobile allegedly wants to buy Mint Mobile, which would mean a huge payday for actor Ryan Reynolds.
• IDC forecasts nearly 415 million used smartphones will be shipped worldwide in 2026 with a market value of $99.9 billion.
• And Fossil’s SKAGEN Falster Gen 6 smartwatch joins the list of Wear OS 3 devices, but updating will cost you Google Assistant.
• Health startup Koko generated controversy by using an AI chatbot to provide mental health advice — without telling patients.
• New York City public schools ban OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
• Speaking of, ChatGPT gets its first competitor: Anthropic’s Claude improves on ChatGPT in several key ways, still has limitations.
• And CNET has been quietly publishing AI-written articles for months.
• The USDA has approved the first-ever vaccine for honeybees to protect them from a destructive bacteria called foulbrood.
• Elon Musk says he can’t get fair trial in California, wants Texas.
• Meanwhile, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission is considering a ban on natural gas stoves amid health fears.
• Also: A robot will advise a defendant in US court for the first time in history in February.
• Plus: Codeword hires the agency world’s first ‘AI interns.’
• Finally this week: NVIDIA Broadcast can now deepfake your eyes to make you look at the camera.

Movies/TV

• Check out the best new streaming movies this week, from dark comedy The Drop to COVID-era slasher Sick.
• The Fabelmans, The Banshees of Inisherin win big at revamped Golden Globes — and here’s the best speech of the event — plus, Mashable has a complete list of winners.
• The Last of Us airs on HBO Max this weekend, and reviews are already in, with Engadget saying it “successfully trades hordes of monsters for emotional depth,” and the BBC calling it “the best video game adaptation ever.”
• ‘M3GAN’ surprisingly dominates at the box office with $30M+ opening.
• We saw a trailer for You season 4, and looks like the tables are turned on Joe this time, with the first part of the new season premiering on Netflix February 9.
• Screen Actors Guild Awards find a new home on Netflix in 2024; This year’s show will stream on YouTube; Everything Everywhere All At Once and The Banshees Of Inisherin are among the 2023 nominees.
• Looking for new shows to binge-watch in 2023? We’ve listed some of the best, from Stranger Things to Breaking Bad, The Flight Attendant, and A League of Their Own.
• Also: Check out this off-the-wall trailer for Ari Aster’s (Hereditary, Midsommar) latest film, Beau is Afraid, hitting US cinemas in April.
• Plus: HBO Max just bumped up the price of its ad-free plan while canceling shows and removing content.
• And a new Chromecast with Google TV is in the pipeline, could be a successor to original model.

Gaming: 

• Want to know more about the Vive XR Elite? We interview HTCabout it and go hands-on with the new flagship VR headset.
• Will you be buying a PSVR 2? Here’s what you had to say in our poll.
• Meta ends support for original Quest headset after less than four years.
• Netflix added TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge to its mobile games lineup, and you really should play it if you’re subscribed.
• Razer Edge is the best cloud gaming machine, but that comes at a cost.
• The game industry is set for substantial change in 2023. These are the studios where workers are unionizing.
• The Callisto Protocol’s been accused of leaving developers off credits: As many as 20 developers were omitted after leaving the study prior to the game’s release.
• And Naughty Dog aims to avoid crunch with later game announcements.
• Meanwhile, Ubisoft cancels three games and delays Skull and Bones yet again.
• Yes, that absurd T-Rex movie in High on Life is real: Tammy and the T-Rex is a 1994 movie starring Denise Richards and Paul Walker.
• Also: Steam hits record-breaking 10 million concurrent in-game players.

Reviews

• Lenovo Yoga Book 9i hands-on: bringing dual screens to a new level — “Dual screen, done right.”
• Icoma Tatamel hands-on: A mini transformable e-bike — “A micro-mobile machine that’s more than meets the eye.”
• OnePlus 10T vs Samsung Galaxy S22: Which one should you buy? “When it comes to the two flagships, there is one clear winner for most buyers.”

Features

• The history of cell phones: A decade-by-decade timeline — “We’ve come a long way over the past four decades” (Android Authority).
• Best of CES 2023 Awards: The best products from the show — Including the Lenovo ThinkPhone, HTCVive XR Elite, and more (Android Authority).
• I think my face was deepfaked into a Chinese camping stove ad — “Here’s how a stock image — that looked like me — made its way to Chinese marketplaces. With each repost and edit, I grew more convinced that it was me” (Wired).
• Monitoring Space Weather From the Ground — “Scientists use magneto-impedance sensors to cut costs of space weather reporting” (IEEE Spectrum).
• Adolfo Kaminsky dies at 97; his forgeries saved thousands of Jews — “His talent for creating realistic documents helped children, their parents and others escape deportation to concentration camps, and in many cases to flee Nazi-occupied territory” (NYT).

Weekly Wonder

In other news this week, Seattle schools are suing tech giants for harming young people’s mental health.

• Seattle’s public school district filed a novel lawsuit against tech giants behind Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, and Snapchat.
• The lawsuit, filed last Friday in US District Court, consisted of a 91-page complaint.
• The school district claims by targeting their products to children, social media companies are responsible for worsening mental health and behavioral disorders such as depression, anxiety, and disordered eating.
• The complaint also mentioned that children’s use of social media had made educating students more difficult, and that schools had been forced to educate children about the effects of social media, hire additional mental health professionals, and provide teachers with extra training.

The lawsuit claims that between 2009 to 2019, there was an average 30% increase in the number of students at Seattle Public Schools reporting feeling “so sad or hopeless almost every day for two weeks or more in a row.”

From the complaint: 

“Defendants have successfully exploited the vulnerable brains of youth, hooking tens of millions of students across the country into positive feedback loops of excessive use and abuse of Defendants’ social media platforms. Worse, the content Defendants curate and direct to youth is too often harmful and exploitive ….”

The school district’s complaint asks the court to order tech giants to stop targeting children with their products, and also asks the court to award damages and pay for prevention education and treatment for social media addiction and problematic use.

• Already hundreds of families are pursuing lawsuits against these companies over similar claims of harm.
• But it’s unclear if any other school districts have filed similar complaints to Seattle’s.

This news comes hot on the heels of a study published before Christmas that revealed screen time was linked to increased odds of preteens developing OCD:

• According to the study led by UC San Francisco (UCSF) researchers, the odds of preteens developing OCD over a two-year period increased by 13% for every hour they played video games.
• It was also shown that the odds increased by 11% for every hour they watched videos.
• With adolescent screen time doubling during the pandemic, families should be aware of this risk.
• The study’s lead author, Jason Nagata, said, “Children who spend excessive time playing video games report feeling the need to play more and more and being unable to stop despite trying. Intrusive thoughts about video game content could develop into obsessions or compulsions.”
• He said that watching videos can also make preteens want to compulsively view similar content, and that algorithms and advertisements can exacerbate that behavior.

Of course, it’s not the first time social media, gaming, and screen time, in general, have come under fire for health concerns. It likely won’t be the last time, either.

On that note, here’s how to keep an eye on your screen time on Android if you’re trying to be more conscious about it.

Tech Calendar

• January 18: Samsung launch event (Galaxy A54?)
• January 24: Forspoken releases on PS5, PC
• January 26: Razer Edge released
• January 27: Dead Space launches on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC
• February 1 @ 1 PM ET: Samsung Unpacked (Galaxy S23?)
• February 7: OnePlus 11 global launch
• February 22: PSVR 2 launch date
• February 27-March 2: MWC 2023 Barcelona

Tech Tweet of the Week

Something extra: Want to see a TikTok of some adorable commuting dogs? Dog walking and training business Mo Mountain Mutts in Skagway, Alaska is here with its “puppy bus,” where seats are assigned based on the dog’s personality. Aww 🐶 (h/t Axios).

Have a great week!

Paula Beaton, Copy Editor.