May is normally a busy month in the mobile realm, and this year it’s shaping up to be even more hectic than usual. Google’s I/O 2024 conference is set for next week — perhaps the most important event in Android all year — and hardware releases are ramping back up from their post-MWC lull. Add big moves from Apple, Microsoft, and OpenAI to that ingredients list, and you’ve got a recipe for mobile mayhem. Lots has happened this week, but we’ve got you covered with the five biggest headlines all in one place.
Catch up on last week’s biggest Android headlines here
One UI 6.1 comes and goes, but Android is a Q1 cash cow in this week’s news
The Pixel 8a made waves — if you were watching
One of our favorite budget phones got a refresh this week, but Google couldn’t have picked a worse time for the unveiling. The Pixel 8a made its debut on Tuesday, packing an improved Actua display, on-device AI, and an unprecedented (for its price point) seven years of updates. The trouble was, just down the road from Mountain View, Apple was busy unveiling a new line of iPads, so Google’s announcement got predictably eclipsed.
While Google’s poor timing may have dulled the initial hype, we’re still plenty excited about the Pixel 8a. Few phones, if any, provide this many software goodies in the $500 price range. While the 8a doesn’t ship with Google’s new AI wallpapers, an update will bring them soon. And the newest Pixel is set to become only the third phone ever to support powered-off finding on Android’s upgraded Find My Device network. Oh, and there’s even a button that lets you blow raspberries at telemarketers — what more could you want at this price?
The Pixel 8a is Google’s cheapest phone to promise on-device AI and 7 years of updates — but only just
All this for $500? It might be time to cross the Pixel 8 off your list
Apple’s new iPads cast a long shadow on Google’s surprise Pixel Tablet
In another example of Google being tone-deaf to its own place in the market, the company released a surprise version of the Pixel Tablet that ships without its speaker dock for a more palatable starting price. Perhaps the company felt a need to make its device more competitive with entry-level iPads, which have lost some market share in recent months, but still continue to dominate tablet sales.
But the dock-less Pixel Tablet announcement came at roughly the same time as Apple’s iPad event, where the Cupertino company announced a cheaper iPad model that undercut Google’s deal by $50, making the Pixel Tablet a hard buy even at its reduced price. Not even Samsung is safe from Apple’s wrath now that iPads have OLEDs.
Google’s surprise cheaper Pixel Tablet simply can’t beat Apple’s iPad
At $349, the iPad simply outshines the first-gen Pixel Tablet in every way that matters
OpenAI wants to take the wind out of Google’s I/O sails
As if pressure from Apple weren’t enough, it appears Google’s main product — its search engine — is poised to get its first real competitor since Microsoft Bing. OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, which forced Google to declare a code red internally just a year and a half ago, is reportedly ready to release its Google Search competitor the day before I/O 2024. Only time will tell if it will be as disruptive as the company’s AI chatbot, but Google has to at least be sweating a bit.
OpenAI’s Google Search competitor could release a day before I/O 2024
Google’s search engine might finally face a worthy competitor
Microsoft is making mobile moves
When it rains, it pours, and for Google, the competition is coming from all sides lately. At the end of the week, we learned Microsoft will be bringing its Xbox Games Store to Android and iOS in July, complete with big-name titles like Candy Crush and Minecraft from day one. Interestingly, it won’t be offered as an app, so we’re not entirely sure how the logistics will work yet, but another choice in app sources will be welcome.
The Xbox Games Store is coming to Android and iOS this summer
But not as a native app, at least not at first
Samsung’s back on top of its update game
Samsung saw a lot of success with its rollout of One UI 6.1 and Galaxy AI to older devices throughout April, but things ended on a bit of a sour note when Galaxy S22 users were met with an unresponsive device showing a white screen after applying the update. Samsung ended up pulling that firmware update at the beginning of May, but after a bit of QA, the build has started heading back out to users this week.
Not deterred by the hiccup, Samsung has already started rolling out its May security update to the Galaxy S24 just days after Google published Android’s monthly security bulletin. And the One UI 6.1 builds are still coming, with the Galaxy A53, A54, and S21 FE slated to get the update on May 14. But even with all the recent happenings, the most exciting Samsung firmware news came on Wednesday, when we learned the company has started testing One UI 7 based on Android 15 — an OS version that hasn’t even made it to Beta 2 yet on Google’s end.
One UI 7 makes its first appearance as Samsung starts testing Android 15
A test build for the Galaxy S24 was spotted on Samsung’s servers
