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📚 Good morning, and welcome to Tuesday’s Daily Authority! I’m just back from a break up north, where I spent four days listening to crime and dystopian fiction authors talk about their books. Needless to say I’ve returned with a stack of books almost as big as I am! On with today’s top news: We’ve got a mystery Google device, and some fast charging news from Redmi…
A mystery Google phone on FCC
A mysterious Google device has shown up on the FCC database, as spotted by Droid Life.
- The device bears model number GHL1X, with additional variants sporting model number G82U8, GWKK3, and G0DZQ.
- We know it’s not the upcoming Pixel Tablet, as the FCC application makes clear it’s a phone.
- There’s also no mention of it being a foldable, with no talk of it having two screens.
- Could it be the Pixel 7a?
- Testing documents show the device has Wi-Fi 6E support, NFC, Bluetooth connectivity, and sub-6GHz 5G.
- With no mention of 5G mmWave connectivity, it’s unlikely to be Google’s rumored foldable, which would surely feature 5G mmWave.
- So our bet’s on the Pixel 7a — the Pixel 6a launched with multiple regional models, but mmWave 5G was limited to the Verizon variant.
Watch this space, and we’ll update you if we get any more info on this mysterious Google phone.
Redmi beats Real me in the fast charging race
Realme recently broke records with the GT Neo 5, offering 240W fast charging. Now it seems that competitor Realme has jumped into the lead with its own 300W fast charging tech.
- The news was announced on Weibo using a modified Redmi Note 12 Discovery Edition phone with a 4,100mAh battery.
- The charging structure and battery materials were modified, and over “50 safety protection items” were used in the Double GaN adapter to reach the 300W charging speeds.
- A video shows the phone reaching a peek charging speed of 290.6W, just short of 300W.
- It reached 50% charge in under three minutes, taking just under five minutes to a full charge.
- All this is pretty exciting stuff, but no word yet if or when this fast charging tech will be applied to a commercial Redmi handset.
Roundup
🔋 HONOR Magic 5 Pro announced with an insane spec sheet: 5,100mAh battery, 512GB of onboard storage, excellent camera hardware, and more (Android Authority).
👓 Xiaomi launches prototype AR glasses that pair with a phone with just a tap (Android Authority).
📶 Galaxy S23 Ultra may be having problems connecting to Wi-Fi, fix could come with next monthly update (Android Authority).
🧠 Apple’s secret ‘XDG’ team is working on more than just a glucose monitor (Bloomberg UK).
😲 Color-changing phone allows you to choose from 1,600 different colors at will (Android Authority).
⛄ OnePlus has a 45W liquid cooling system accessory for smartphones (Android Authority).
🎮 Elden Ring expansion confirmed by FromSoftware: “Shadow of the Eldtree” is currently in development, release date unknown (Eurogamer).
📅 Also: The Outer Worlds remaster comes to PS5 next week, with DualSense support, various improvements — if you already own the PS4 game, you can upgrade for just $9.99 (Push Square).
⚡ There’s a Nothing Phone 1 clone at MWC and Carl Pei just posed with it (Android Authority).
💬 You can now talk to ChatGPT on Snapchat, but don’t reveal any secrets (Android Authority).
Tuesday Thing
That’s weird: an Alien clip on YouTube is crashing Pixel phones…
- This YouTube clip from Ridley Scott’s sci-fi epic Alien seems to be crashing Pixel 6 and Pixel 7 phones, though it’s unclear if earlier Pixels are also affected
- The specific clip shows Dallas crawling through the Nostromo’s ductways with a flashlight and flamethrower as the ship’s crew tracks his — and the alien’s — movements.
- The bug was first spotted by Mishaal Rahman, who noted it could be caused by the Android 13 QPR2 beta, though it’s still unclear what’s causing the issue.
- Many Reddit users also shared their experiences on the r/GooglePixel subreddit.
- The phones only crash when watching this specific video through the official YouTube app.
- Gizmodo tested the video on a Pixel 3 (which didn’t crash), but a Pixel 6 Pro, Pixel 7, and Pixel 7 Pro all black-screened then rebooted.
- Though a quick reboot was the only side effect for some phones, other users experienced issues leading to loss of cellular connectivity, forcing another restart.
- This isn’t the first time Pixel phones have experienced weird crashes, and Gizmodo reached out to Google to see what’s causing the issue, but is yet to hear back.
Have a great day!
Paula Beaton, Copy Editor.
