Opinion: Another huge tech week is in the books. As we’re taking a quick breath ahead of the Black Friday craze, it’s time to name the big winners and unfortunate losers from the past seven days.
There were a lot of tech winners this week, not least of which is the public being able to get some early Black Friday deals on the books and avoid some of the chaos. We’ve got news that Apple will offer Emergency SOS to iPhone 14 owners in the UK next month, while owners of 2021 Samsung Smart TVs can now access the Gaming Hub and the Xbox app.
It wasn’t all good news for Microsoft though. We’ve heard it can’t make the Xbox ‘Keystone’ streamer cheap enough to make it worthwhile compared to the Xbox Series S, and the company is desperately trying to make Teams attractive by adding the forced fun of a game of Minesweeper with your mates. .
However, scroll down to find out who gave us this week’s winners and losers…
Winner: Qualcomm
When we praise major Android manufacturers for their flagship phones, it’s easy to forget that much of it is thanks to the hard work and innovation of the chipmakers at Qualcomm.
In fact, the 2023 Android phones are all set for greatness after the events at the Snapdragon Summit in Hawaii. The American company announced Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, which will bring a 35% improvement in CPU performance and a 25% increase in graphics performance, thanks to the Adreno GPU.
We’ll also see hardware-accelerated ray tracing on more Android devices, bringing the modern lighting feature to mobile games, if developers take advantage of it. Moreover, the AI is now smart enough to know whether the screen should be in portrait or landscape mode, based on the orientation of your face.
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The second generation will also support 200MP cameras with 8K video, while music players will be happy to know that the platform now supports spatial audio with head tracking. It’s something Apple Music subscribers enjoy with their AirPods and now we might see it brought to Android. The chip will also offer lossless music streaming, which is a big boost for audiophiles, while Wi-Fi 7 will be on board for the first time.
It all points to some big improvements across the board for Android’s big hitters in 2023. That will include the Samsung Galaxy S23, Oppo Find X, and OnePlus 11. So, when you pick up your next flagship Android phone, remember to raise a glass for Qualcomm, too.
Loser: Netflix scammers
It’s a tough time being a Netflix indie. Not only is the company cracking down on password sharing, but it also gives account holders a chance to get them out of the subscription with ease.
The company announced a new Manage Access and Devices page under Account Settings that will allow the bill payer to remotely remove individual devices, like that phone in your former bedroom. This means they won’t have to go through the hassle of changing the password on their account to remove that ex, or roommate they no longer want to access the best shows Netflix has to offer.
The feature is a huge win for Netflix subscribers who already pay for the service, as they’ll be able to keep an eye on any fraudulent logins, while removing account details from hotel and Airbnb TVs.