#android feature drop

Google’s June 2026 Android Drop, announced June 2, treats the phone less like a communication tool and more like a household safety hub. We see the update as a deliberate attempt to bundle AI-driven scam protection with age-specific safety features and cross-platform sharing, signaling that Google wants Android to manage risk as smoothly as it handles photos. The standout addition is Fake Call…

This year has only two full work weeks left and CES is only four weeks away–and somehow I have yet to get a cold call from a publicist about the annual gadget gathering in Las Vegas. I’m sure that I just jinxed myself with that last statement. 12/2/2024: AT&T Rolls Out Free ‘Internet Backup’ Wireless Service for Fiber Customers, PCMag I’m pretty sure that the only times our Verizon Fios…

After a great week in Berlin for IFA–with most of my travel expenses covered by the organizers of that tech trade show as part of their usual accommodation for a group of invited U.S. journalists and analysts–I’ve got Monday at home before I fly to Chicago Tuesday to moderate a panel discussion at the robotics firm Vention’s Demo Day. Then Wednesday I fly from there to Orlando to cover the…

The end of May coinciding with the end of a four-day workweek was a pleasant bonus of Memorial Day’s spot on the calendar this year. Another bonus: I had my last client-paid copy for the month filed by 2:09 p.m. Friday. Patreon readers got one other post, a rant about the woeful UX of a Hilton offer for double points on upcoming hotel stays. That didn’t get published until almost 9 p.m. on…

I have only two days this upcoming workweek that aren’t blocked off completely, Monday and Thursday. Tuesday I’ll be working the Virginia primary election (hard to believe it’s been almost four years since my first long day as a poll worker), Wednesday I’m covering the  ACA Connects telecom-industry conference, and Friday I fly to Austin for SXSW. In addition to the stories below, I wrote a bonus…