Google has just rolled out the first Android 13 quarterly platform release beta, and developers have already uncovered code that hints at a pair of upcoming devices: the rumored Pixel foldable and a new “Pro” tablet (via Android Police).

In a thread on Twitter, developer Kuba Wojciechowski shares screencaps of code that refers to the unfolded and folded states of a device called “Felix.” It mentions the cameras that the device uses as well, which may include a 64-megapixel (MP) Sony IMX787 primary sensor and a 10.8MP Samsung S5K3J1 telephoto lens on the back of the phone. The device could also house an 8MP Sony IMX355 sensor (the same one used by the Pixel 6A) on the inside and another Samsung S5K3J1 around the front.

The foldable’s dual rear camera system corroborates claims that the device could fold horizontally like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold. Last year, it looked like Google was also working on a device that folds clamshell-style, but animations found in Android 12L and an icon in Google’s camera app point towards a phone that folds like a book.

In addition to digging up details about Google’s upcoming foldable, Wojciechowski also spotted references to a “Pro” tablet, called “t6pro” or “tangorpro.” Google confirmed that it’s working on an Android-powered tablet at I/O in May, and developers have since figured out that “t6” and “tangor” refers to the device. But now that we’re seeing the “pro” moniker attached to these codenames, it could indicate that Google’s working on a higher-end version of the tablet, too. As pointed out by 9to5Google, the code doesn’t reveal much else beyond the fact that the two devices will use different rear cameras.

These findings come a little less than a month away from Google’s Pixel launch event on October 6th, where we’ll see the debut of the Pixel 7, Pixel Watch, and new Nest devices. We aren’t expecting to see the rumored tablet or foldable at the event, though — the Pixel tablet isn’t supposed to come out until 2023, and rumors suggest that the Pixel foldable has been delayed until next year.

It seems increasingly likely that Google’s going to be announcing a budget Chromecast at its hardware event on October 6th, and Brazilian site Tecnoblog has posted purported pictures of the device, which the publication says showed up in documents from the National Telecommunications Agency. The device looks pretty much identical to the white model of Google’s current Chromecast with Google TV, but leaks from earlier this week suggest it’ll only be able to stream in 1080p instead of 4K and that it’ll be around 40 percent cheaper than the current model (which is normally $50 but is currently on sale in the US for $40).

The images posted by Tecnoblog show the device with a label saying “Model G454V.” That’s the same name that showed up in an FCC filing earlier this summer, which described a device that connected directly to a TV, was controlled by a remote, and could utilize both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. In other words, it described a Chromecast.

Image: The Verge

This new leak doesn’t give us any idea of what the internals of the device will be like, but hopefully Google’s paid some attention to making it a bit more powerful than the current Chromecast with Google TV. That may seem counterintuitive for a budget device, but the company recently admitted that its current streaming puck hasn’t been particularly fast or responsive and that managing its limited storage space can be a pain. It’d be a shame if it released a new device with those same issues.

When Google announced its hardware event for early next month, it said it’d be showing off the Pixel 7, Pixel 7 Pro, Pixel Watch, and “additions to the Nest smart home portfolio.” While a new Chromecast is absent from that list, it does seem likely that we’ll see it then, given that the device is at the stage where it’s being photographed and approved by regulators.

Android is introducing a clutch of new features to improve accessibility, personalization, and productivity across various devices. One of the major announcements is that Nearby Share — Google’s AirDrop competitor — is getting a much-needed update that allows users to easily send files between their own devices.

After you opt in to use the new feature on your Android phone or tablet, all transfers between these devices will be automatically accepted, even if your display is switched off.

Image: Google

This self-share feature has been anticipated for a few months, and while we’re happy to see that file transfers will be easier, it’s still disappointing (though totally unsurprising) that the feature is limited to Android-to-Android interactions. An official release date for self-share hasn’t been announced, but Google says the feature will arrive on devices in “the next few weeks.” (It’s not clear when exactly the other features mentioned in this update will be live.)

The new updates will also improve accessibility across various Google services. Google Drive and Keep are getting redesigned widgets for devices with larger screens that will give Android tablet users one-touch access to Docs, Slides, and Sheets files within the Google Drive widget, while the Keep widget will increase in size and font size, improving note taking for people with reduced vision.

There’s also an upgrade for Android’s sound notifications — a little-known feature that can be found within your device’s Accessibility settings.

Image: Google

These sound notifications were originally intended to help people with hearing impairments. Turn them on, and your Android device will listen out for sounds like fire alarms and knocks on your front door, creating a notification when it hears them. Now, users can create custom alerts by recording specific noises. So, for example, you might record the jingle your washing machine plays after finishing a cycle, and then, whenever your Android phone, watch, or tablet hears that sound, it’ll send you a notification.

For those using Google TV, the service also now has a curated library of content with audio descriptions that you can find either by searching the service manually or using the voice-controlled Google Assistant (it’s not clear when exactly this feature launched).

Google Meet users will also have access to multi-pinning during calls, enabling you to keep your attention on multiple specific people within larger group meetings — such as the main speaker and an ASL interpreter.

Google Meet is also introducing live shared experiences, such as games and co-watching on Android mobile and tablet devices. This feature can be used to play classics such as Uno, Kahoot!, and Heads Up!, as well as watch YouTube content with up to 100 people at a time.

Text messaging on Android devices is also getting an “intelligent emoji suggestions” update in Gboard, and Android will increase the available emoji for this feature by releasing new seasonal emoji mashups for Emoji Kitchen that will be available as stickers.

Finally, if you happen to have a smartwatch running Wear OS, then some additional functionality and fun are also coming your way. A Keep tile can now be added to your watch for on-the-go notetaking, and your Bitmoji can be added to your watch face. This cartoon avatar will change expressions depending on what you’re doing, the time of day, and even the weather. So, if you’re out for a run and get caught in the rain, your watch will look as miserable as you feel.

If you have a Nest Hub Max smart display and you’re tired of saying “Hey Google” 50 times a day, a new feature could cut that number down a bit. Quick Phrases — a feature on the Pixel 6 phones, and which Google announced for the Nest Hub Max last year — are now live. This lets the Nest Hub Max (and only the Max so far) respond to certain commands without the phrase “Hey Google,” making talking to the voice interface a little easier.

At launch, Quick Phrases — which you need to enable in the Google Home app first — are limited to a few preset commands in four categories: general info (like time and weather), lights, timers, and alarms. Google says the phrases don’t have to be exact and that the Assistant can recognize common variations. Phrases include:

• “Turn the lights on.”
• “Set a timer for 2 minutes.”
• “Set an alarm for 7AM.”
• “What time is it?”
• “What’s the weather?”
• “Cancel the alarm.”

Quick Phrases are tied to Google’s Voice Match feature, so each person in the household will need to set up the feature for their account. It’s distinct from the Look and Talk feature on the Nest Hub Max, which allows you to issue any command without the ‘Hey Google’ wake word, but you have to be standing close to the display, looking right at it, and have Face Match enabled. With Quick Phrases, you just need to be within earshot of the speaker.

When you say the Quick Phrase, the Nest Hub reacts with a small icon indicating it heard it and then completes the request. I tested it out this morning, and each command worked as advertised. It was pretty handy not to have to say the wake word before issuing a command. Although, I did feel like I sounded a bit more demanding than usual!

I also discovered that while the “Turn the lights on” command activated the smart lighting in the room the Nest Hub Max was in, I could say, “Turn the Living Room lights off” and control smart lights in another room, too.

The downside I can see is that Quick Phrases will probably mis-trigger the Assistant more frequently. Of all three voice assistants I use — Amazon Alexa, Apple’s Siri, and Google Assistant — I find Google is the least likely to be accidentally activated. This may change that.

In my testing, Google seemed able to disregard any similar commands to other voice assistants; “Hey Siri, what time is it?” and “Alexa, turn on the lights” didn’t trigger the Nest Hub Max, as long as I didn’t pause too much between the wake word and command.

The first beta for the Android 13 quarterly release includes a new “clear calling” feature that “reduces background noises during calls.” It was first spotted by Mishaal Rahman on Twitter who also tweeted directions to enable it for yourself without root, if you’re feeling bold.

The images shared by Rahman note that Clear Calling works “on most mobile networks,” is “not available for Wi-Fi calling,” and “content from your call is not sent to Google.”

Google has been flexing its noise-canceling muscles (and custom six-core audio chips) for awhile. First, and most impressively, by using AI to suppress background noises like the crackling of snack bags, keyboard clicks, and dogs barking in Google Meet. More recently with the $199 Pixel Buds Pro — the company’s first earbuds with active noise cancellation.

My colleague Chris Welch, who knows more about noise-cancelation tech (and unannounced Sonos speakers) than anyone I know, called the ANC on the Pixel Buds Pro, “more than competent — even if it won’t be bumping Sony or Bose from the top of the mountain.” Not bad for a first effort, now let’s see how Google does with regular old phone calls.

Do you even make phone calls anymore?

Google is rolling out patches to fix some Pixel bugs after the phones received the latest Android 13 update last month. The September 2022 monthly update is being delivered throughout the week to most devices, addressing issues like unexpected battery drain and disabled wireless charging.

The patch won’t arrive on Google’s newest phone, the Pixel 6A, until later this month. The Pixel 6A has one fix specifically included in the list, addressing its fingerprint scanner’s recognition “in certain conditions.” As noted by Consumer Reports, some owners of the new phone have found it will unlock using a finger they hadn’t registered or for the fingerprint of an entirely different person.

Screenshot: Richard Lawler / The Verge

For the increased battery drain, Google’s blaming a launcher background activity issue and says it has fixed that in this update. And if your wireless charging wouldn’t always activate, this update is supposed to restore that functionality to the Pixel 4, 4 XL, 5, 6, and 6 Pro.

Google’s turbulent start with the Android 13 launch is unfortunately not a first. The first major Android 12 update last December was supposed to address a number of launch issues and add new features on its Pixel 6 and 6 Pro, but Google had to pause its rollout after finding that some phones would disconnect or drop calls. It was one of the rockiest starts for a wide release of Android yet, and hopefully, history doesn’t repeat itself with the Pixel 7 launch right around the corner.

Other issues that are being addressed include problems connecting some Bluetooth devices or accessories and correcting lock screen notifications that would only partially display. The version number for the latest update is TP1A.220905.004, and you can see the full changelog listed below.

Battery & Charging

Fix for issue occasionally causing increased battery drain from certain launcher background activities

Fix for issue preventing wireless charging mode to activate in certain conditions *[1]

Biometrics

Additional improvements for fingerprint recognition and response in certain conditions *[2]

Bluetooth

Fix for issue occasionally preventing certain Bluetooth devices or accessories from connecting

User Interface

Fix for issue occasionally causing notifications to appear truncated on the lock screen

Fixes are available for all supported Pixel devices unless otherwise indicated below.

*[1] Included on Pixel 4, Pixel 4 XL, Pixel 5, Pixel 6 & Pixel 6 Pro

*[2] Included on Pixel 6a

Qualcomm’s next generation of mobile processors should help bring flagship features to more midrange devices. The chipmaker announced two new chips — the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 and the Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 — that come bundled with AI enhancements and hardware to support 5G.

The Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 is the more powerful of the pair, with the ability to shoot pictures at up to 200 megapixels and HDR video capture. It also comes with “intuitive AI assistance” that can help suggest apps and settings based on your activity. Qualcomm says the SoC’s (system on a chip) CPU performs up to 40 percent better than the Snapdragon 695 it released last year, while its GPU performs up to 35 percent better.

The Snapdragon 4 Gen 1, on the other hand, seems less focused on gaming, promising multiday battery life in addition to hardware support for AI voice assistance and the capability to take up to 108-megapixel photos. It doesn’t offer too much of a horsepower upgrade from the Snapdragon 480 Plus that came before it, with an up to 10 percent boost when it comes to GPU performance and up to 15 percent for CPU performance.

Although both chipsets can connect to 5G, only the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 can tap into both mmWave and sub-6Ghz 5G for faster connectivity — the 4-series chip is limited to sub-6GHz only. The Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 is, similarly, the only one of the two that can use the improved Wi-Fi 6E standard, as the 4 Gen 1 is stuck with the older Wi-Fi 5.

It’s been almost a year since Qualcomm last released midrange chips (and that was before overhauling its convoluted naming scheme). The Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 is expected to come out by the end of this year, while the 6 Gen 1 is supposed to arrive at the beginning of 2023, making the timing of these chips’ release a little interesting. This already makes both of them too late to compete with the Tensor chip inside the Google Pixel 6A and trailing the forthcoming Pixel 7 set to launch in October.

We don’t know of any devices that will use the chips just yet, and we probably won’t see one until 2023. On our list of the best phones available for under $500, only one of the four Android options uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon CPU — the OnePlus Nord N20 5G. Of the others, Samsung relied on its own Exynos chipset for the Galaxy A53 5G, while the Galaxy A13 5G and Moto G Stylus (2022) opt for competing hardware from Mediatek, which has eaten into Qualcomm’s market share recently.

Google is expanding Maps’ eco-friendly routing mode, rolling the feature out in dozens of European countries and making it even more powerful by letting you pick what type of fuel your car runs on.

The feature, originally launched in the US and Canada last year, will highlight routes that use less energy if they have a similar ETA to other alternate routes. Google says that starting today, it is rolling out to users in “nearly 40” European countries, including France, Ireland, Poland, Spain, and the UK. (It was introduced in Germany last month.)

Gif: Google

Google’s also adding the ability to tell Maps if your car has a diesel, gas, hybrid, or electric powertrain, so it can find the most efficient route for your specific type of vehicle and provide more accurate estimates on how much more efficient the eco-friendly route is. The system is built on information pulled from the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and European Environment Agency, combined with Google Maps driving trends to train machine learning models based on the most popular engines in given regions.

Using an example from Google’s blog post, this could mean that people with diesel-powered vehicles will be routed along a high-speed freeway, where their engines will be most efficient, whereas someone with a hybrid or electric vehicle might get suggestions including surface streets where they can take better advantage of regenerative braking.

Google has started sending out invites for its fall hardware event, which is set to take place on Thursday, October 6th, at 10AM ET. The event will launch the upcoming Pixel 7 phones, as well as the Pixel Watch — the company showed off both devices at its I/O event earlier this year, announcing they’re coming in the fall. Google also says it’ll use the event to announce new additions to the Nest smart home portfolio.

Google’s announcement comes just one day before Apple’s Far Out event, where it will reveal the iPhone 14 — you can follow all the news about those announcements here. Since Google’s last event, purported leaks have revealed even more about the devices, with both the Watch and phones seemingly making their way into people’s hands. As 9to5Google points out, the company itself is now revealing a little more information about the devices, with the Pixel 7’s product page saying that it’ll be powered by a next-gen chip called the Tensor G2.

The leaks haven’t revealed much about the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro that we didn’t already know, such as the fact that it has an aluminum camera bar with two cutouts on the rear for the Pro model. Someone managed to unbox and boot up the phone, but given that Android 13 has already started to roll out on other devices, that’s not really a novelty. Earlier this year, though, a Redditor got a hold of a prototype Pixel Watch (allegedly, it was left at a restaurant). While it wouldn’t boot, their pictures did give us a better sense of the Watch’s size, as well as how it’ll actually look on the wrist.

The Pixel 7 seems like it’ll be a pretty straightforward continuation of the previous generation of phones, but there’s a bit of pressure with the Watch as the “first smartwatch built by Google, inside and out,” as its product page on Google’s online store says. Google’s competitors (namely Samsung and Apple) have been making wearables for years, so the company’s entry has to be competent and at least somewhat competitive right out of the gate. So far, details about it are scant — we don’t even know what chip it’ll use — but we should get a clearer picture come October 6th.

Several Nest smart home devices are currently rumored or have been previously teased by Google. As noted by 9to5Google, these include a basic version of the Chromecast HD, a new Nest WiFi with 6E and Thread support, and a second generation Nest Doorbell with round-the-clock recording.

Update September 7th, 3:35AM ET: Added the information that the Pixel 7’s chip will be called the Tensor G2 and mention of new Nest devices.

Android 13 has new features that aim to improve the experience of using a single device for both work and play. According to Google, Android 13’s redesigned “work profiles” build upon last year’s enhancements to keep an employee’s personal data separate from their work data and make the user experience better and more productive, all while still adhering to an IT department’s admin policies.

One improvement in Android 13 lets employees specify if an app should be opened in their personal or work profile. This can be useful to keep corporate videos out of personal YouTube watchlists, suggests Google in one example. Employees can also have two photo galleries on their devices (one for personal use and the other for work) for a more curated sharing experience with personal and business apps.

Android 13 also adds smart dictation to work profile apps for Pixel users which Google says will keep “corporate jargon dictated for work emails out of personal chats.” Meanwhile, a new central hub feature allows employees to more easily manage their device security and privacy settings, and see what data is shared with company admins and any restrictions they’ve placed on devices. Admins also have more control over Wi-Fi connectivity on devices, adding security logs for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and password activities in line with National Information Assurance Partnership (NIAP).

More features are listed as “coming soon” to Android 13. Lost Mode will allow IT admins to lock down access and locate lost or stolen company-owned devices, while Stay Private on Work Wi-Fi will automatically encrypt traffic when personal profiles are toggled by an employee for use on a company’s wireless network. And finally, employees will be able to securely manage messages, notifications, and pictures on their phones from company-issued Chromebooks.