🖋️ Happy Friday, everyone! This week I discovered the magic of brown ink. It’s a nice variation to the standard black and blue you see everywhere, adding a little touch of interest to all of my handwritten notes. As someone whose favorite color is brown (don’t @ me), I’m not sure what took me this long. Anyway, here’s some tech news.

New Google Chromecast with Google TV is on the way

The Chromecast with Google TV is one of the easiest streaming solutions around, and now it looks like there will be a new model coming out soon.

• This will be the third model in the lineup, after the original 4K model (2020) and the cheaper 1080p model (2022).
• It was discovered by 9to5Google, who dug through the preview version of the Google Home app to find mentions of the new device.
• In all likelihood, the new device will be an updated version of the original 4K model, which is due for a refresh.
• We’re guessing it will support the AV1 codec for better stream quality and lower bandwidth usage.
• Apart from that, the only complaint we have about the original device was a lack of storage space.
• To learn more, check out our reviews for the original 4K model and the newer HD model, both of which we highly recommend.
• As someone who just bought the HD model for my elderly in-laws over the holidays, it’s perfect for the remote-first crowd.

New Galaxy S23 renders break surface

We’re just a few weeks away from the next Galaxy Unpacked event, where Samsung is expected to reveal the latest Samsung Galaxy S23 lineup. As always, there’s been a trickle of leaks ahead of the official reveal, including new renders just yesterday.

• The latest images (via WinFuture) don’t reveal too much new information, but they do confirm what we had already suspected.
• Notable details include individual camera housing for each lens and curved metal edges.
• We also got a glimpse of the new colorways, such as Phantom Black, Botanic Green, Mystic Lilac, and Cotton Flower.
• On the inside, all three devices will pack the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor.
• Camera performance is also expected to be improved, with the Galaxy S23 Ultra potentially toting a 200MP main shooter.
• If you can’t wait to pick one up, you can already pre-order the devices here, with no commitment if you change your mind.

Roundup

🛒 Looking for a budget phone? Samsung’s latest Galaxy A14 5G is available now, and it’s very large and very cheap (Android Authority).

💰 T-Mobile allegedly wants to buy Mint Mobile, which would mean a huge payday for actor Ryan Reynolds (Android Authority).

📸 Galaxy Watches and Buds 2 Pro are now better companions for your phone’s camera (Android Authority).

⌚ Fossil’s SKAGEN Falster Gen 6 smartwatch joins the list of Wear OS 3 devices, but updating will cost you Google Assistant (Android Authority).

💸 Tim Cook takes a $35 million pay cut that he recommended, reducing his pay by more than 40% (The Verge).

📈 HBO Max just bumped up the price of its ad-free plan in the US, while simultaneously removing content and canceling shows (Android Authority).

👀 NVIDIA Broadcast can now deepfake your eyes to make you look at the camera (The Verge).

🛬 Yesterday’s FAA outage that grounded US flights blamed on old tech and damaged database file (Arstechnica).

❄️ This cool new approach to refrigeration could replace harmful chemicals (Arstechnica).

🔌 The polls are in: Many of you have multiple power banks (Android Authority).

🛸 Pentagon’s new UFO report: 247 new UFO sightings were investigated last year (Vice).

Friday fun

Today we have a little tech story from everyone’s favorite rat pizzeria Chuck E. Cheese. A recent TikTok video (via Arstechnica) from Chuck E. Cheese employee Stewart Coonrod shows the process of installing new software for the latest animatronic song-and-dance number, which includes two DVDs and a 3.5-inch floppy disk. Apparently, the company still ships new 1.44MB floppies to the few locations that still use its “Cyberstar” computer system that dates back to 1998.

Sadly (or maybe not sadly?), this will be Charles Entertainment Cheese’s final dance, as Coonrod’s store is set for a remodel that will remove the animatronics later this year. Pour one out for America’s favorite dancing robot pizza rodent.

Stay cheesy,
Nick Fernandez, Editor.