00:00 \u2013 Mishaal Rahman: Samsung might be killing the Galaxy S26, well, at least the base model.\u00a0<\/p>\n
00:05 \u2013 C. Scott Brown: And Google may want you to ditch your MacBook for an Android PC, eventually.\u00a0<\/p>\n
00:09 \u2013 Mishaal Rahman: I\u2019m Mishaal Rahman.<\/p>\n
00:11 \u2013 C. Scott Brown: And I\u2019m C. Scott Brown and this is the Authority Insights Podcast where we break down the latest news and leaks surrounding the Android operating system.<\/p>\n
00:21 \u2013 Mishaal Rahman: Now, when I heard that Samsung was going to be shaking up its flagship Galaxy S lineup, I got a bit excited and also a little worried at the same time. I\u2019m excited because I\u2019ve always felt the base model\u2019s always been a little underwhelming compared to the other devices. But I\u2019m a little worried that they might be doing a price hike on us next year.<\/p>\n
00:38 \u2013 C. Scott Brown: Yeah, if there is a price hike, I\u2019m worried about how expensive it\u2019s going to be to just have the tech basics in your life. If we\u2019re already spending over a grand on a new phone that\u2019s supposed to last us seven years, why do we need to shell out so much money for a separate PC?<\/p>\n
00:55 \u2013 Mishaal Rahman: That\u2019s a great point. I mean, I\u2019ve always felt that we\u2019re well past the point where phones have lacked the power that\u2019s necessary to be your all-in-one device. I\u2019ve been wanting to talk about these topics for a while and since our articles went live earlier this week on Android Authority, let\u2019s just dive right in. So our first story comes from my colleagues, Adamya Sharma and Assemble Debug who wrote an exclusive that the Galaxy S26 series could represent a major shakeup in Samsung\u2019s flagship device lineup. So, we\u2019ve always had these three models in the Galaxy S series, since the S20 series actually. We had the base S20, the S20 Plus, and the S20 Ultra. We\u2019ve had that since the S20, we had the S21, S22, 23, 24, 25, but the 26 might be having some differences. Can you tell us a bit about what they reported, Scott?<\/p>\n
01:53 \u2013 C. Scott Brown: Well, first, we did get a slight curve ball this year with the Galaxy S25 Edge. So that was the first time that we had seen a phone within the Galaxy S lineup that we had never seen before. So the rumors were that Samsung was going to replace the plus model with the Edge. And we kind of thought that that wasn\u2019t going to happen because the Edge hasn\u2019t been doing that well critically and commercially. But this evidence that we found seems to suggest that it is going to do that. And so basically we went through the code of the latest one of the one of the latest One UI beta leaks. and yeah, we saw no mention of the plus but saw a mention of the Edge. So that was the first thing that was kind of like, well that\u2019s interesting, why isn\u2019t the plus in here? And then we also didn\u2019t see a listing for the vanilla model. So the Galaxy S26 also made no appearance, but we did see a listing for a Galaxy S26 Pro, which we\u2019ve never seen before. That\u2019s a name that we\u2019ve never associated with the Galaxy S line. So yeah, this was our first bit of evidence that made us sort of perk up and be like, wait a minute, like is Samsung just leaving these devices out for now or does this mean that we\u2019re not getting those devices? And then we got more information, which you can talk about a bit.<\/p>\n
03:24 \u2013 Mishaal Rahman: Yeah. So I mean like we instead of the base model, instead of the Plus, we found evidence that there\u2019s a Pro, an Edge, and an Ultra. And you know, that\u2019s a big deal because it represents something beyond potentially just a rebranding because you don\u2019t just take a base device that\u2019s without any monikers like a Plus or an Ultra or a Pro and then slap a Pro label onto it without making changes, right? I mean at least we\u2019re assuming they\u2019re adding the Pro moniker to the base model and actually adding some pro-level upgrades. Maybe we\u2019ll get like a 5X telephoto in the base model or the new base model is what they\u2019re going to be calling it, or maybe they\u2019ll finally add ultra-wideband, which has been a notable omission in the base model for many generations now. I\u2019ve always felt like the base model, it was always the more compact phone in the Galaxy S lineup, but it\u2019s always lacked a couple of things that just kind of made it felt like the redheaded step child of the Galaxy S series. But now making it pro kind of signifies that they\u2019ll actually make it a worthwhile pro-level device on par with the rest of the devices. But at the same time, what\u2019s going to happen with the plus? The fact that the plus was basically just an upsized version of the base model with a couple of the ultra features. The fact that we\u2019re no longer having a dedicated Plus model kind of suggests Samsung is going to be maybe expanding the base model size? Are we going to have a compact model anymore? Do you consider the Edge a compact model because the Edge does have a pretty big display even though it is much thinner and lighter. What do you think about that?<\/p>\n
05:02 \u2013 C. Scott Brown: Yeah. When I first held the edge, I was absolutely astonished by how thin it was. Like, I think that\u2019s the first thing that everyone says. They hold it in their hand and they say, wow, this is way thinner and way lighter than I ever expected. But it is not by any stretch of the imagination a compact phone. It is still just as wide and tall as the plus. In fact, I believe the screen size is exactly the same. I believe it\u2019s literally the same exact screen. So, yeah, so I do not consider it a compact phone. For me, a compact phone has to be under 6.4 inches or preferably 6.3. That\u2019s to me like a good Golock zone where it\u2019s like, okay, this feels small, and it feels easy to use one-handed, but it doesn\u2019t feel too small. It doesn\u2019t feel minuscule like the iPhone Mini series that from a few years back that were like those were really small. But this I feel like that\u2019s the nice zone. So, so yeah, I mean, if Samsung does release a Pro that is smaller than the Edge in both height and width, then yeah, I would consider that to possibly be a potential compact entry. What\u2019ll be weird though, is without the plus model, I mean, I guess it\u2019s possible that Samsung has a way to bring a telephoto lens to the edge, which the current S25 Edge does not have. If Samsung is able to bring a telephoto lens to the edge of the 26 Edge, and then also have a more compact version that has the same camera system, a 200 megapixel main, a pretty good ultra wide, and then a pretty good telephoto, then now we\u2019re talking cohesive. Now it makes sense, you know? But if Samsung is going to have a pro model that\u2019s a compact phone that has a telephoto and a primary camera that\u2019s really good and all that stuff, and then an edge that\u2019s more expensive that doesn\u2019t have a telephoto. Now it\u2019s just chaos. Like then I\u2019ll just be like, how are you going to sell these phones? How are you going to convince somebody to spend $1,100 on a phone that doesn\u2019t have a telephoto lens and then also sell them, you know, a sub $1,000 phone that does have one. It it\u2019s I don\u2019t know. So I\u2019m really curious to see how Samsung\u2019s going to pull this off. But, yeah, but one thing that I should note is that the plus model historically has always been the weakest seller. The Ultra is always been the best seller, selling by you know, outselling the other two by twice as much. And then the smaller model is usually in second and then the Plus is further behind in third. So if any model is going to go, it should be the Plus model, but what Samsung is going to put in its place is the real question here.<\/p>\n
07:46 \u2013 Mishaal Rahman: Yeah. And I\u2019m kind of curious where the FE model will fit into this, because you know, historically that\u2019s always been their more budget focused model in the lineup, but it\u2019s always launched at a different time than the rest of the device lineup. Like the S25 FE hasn\u2019t even launched yet, right?<\/p>\n
08:03 \u2013 C. Scott Brown: No.<\/p>\n
08:03 \u2013 Mishaal Rahman: Yeah, and they just announced today, I believe during their earnings report that they\u2019re going to be launching that sometime this year. So, what\u2019s going to happen with the FE series? Like is that still going to be a factor next year and going on?<\/p>\n
08:17 \u2013 C. Scott Brown: I guess, I don\u2019t obviously Samsung\u2019s going to release an S25 FE, but if it doesn\u2019t launch with the lineup, I don\u2019t know, it\u2019s it\u2019s it\u2019s really interesting because like, I mean if you look at Apple and you look at Google and you look at a bunch of other Samsung competitors, you know, they they give you a standard option. They give you the base model and then they give you upgrades on top of those base models. And so if Samsung is going to use the FE as the quote-unquote base model, but that FE comes out after the main lineup, I mean, that just seems backwards. That just seems like putting the cart in front of the horse. Granted, it\u2019s not out of the question. I do know that there are some Chinese phones that come out where the Pro and the Ultra come out before the standard model, so it\u2019s not something we had never seen before, but it would certainly be something we\u2019ve never seen from Samsung before. And Samsung being the top player, the number one smartphone brand in the world, that\u2019s a bold move. So yeah, it\u2019s weird. I\u2019m very interested in how Samsung\u2019s going to pull this off.<\/p>\n
09:22 \u2013 Mishaal Rahman: So this, we\u2019ve talked about the changes with the base and the plus because obviously those are being radically changed to the pro and the edge respectively. But the Ultra, you know, we\u2019re still going to get an Ultra, but do you think there\u2019s going to be any big changes with that model?<\/p>\n
09:36 \u2013 C. Scott Brown: I think that it may not be the S26, it may end up being the S27, but I think at some point in the next two years, Samsung is going to eliminate the S Pen from the Ultra.<\/p>\n
09:46 \u2013 Mishaal Rahman: Yes, yes. I\u2019ve been saying that. I\u2019m like, it\u2019s long overdue. I\u2019m sorry S Pen fans.<\/p>\n
09:51 \u2013 C. Scott Brown: Yeah. And I know that if there are any Samsung fans listening to this, they\u2019re going to start screaming at their speakers or their TV or whatever, but yeah, I you know, the S Pen is a block. It\u2019s preventing Samsung from innovating. You know, if you\u2019ve just just just from a if you step back and look at the smartphone industry and like how smartphones are made, the S Pen is preventing Samsung from innovating because they have to work around it. And if you have a factory that\u2019s made to build smartphones, the best way to build smartphones is to make it as streamlined as possible. You want each phone to be relatively similar so that one piece of equipment can create multiple different styles of phones. And with the Galaxy S25 Ultra or sorry, well any Ultra phone that exists today, you can\u2019t, you have to have like a dedicated factory just to build those because it\u2019s so, you know, it\u2019s so different from literally every phone on the market today. So yeah, that is blocking Samsung. People, you know, Samsung fans who say Samsung is dried up, like they haven\u2019t innovated in years or whatever. And then simultaneously say, I would never buy a Samsung phone without an S Pen. Those are two contradictory statements. Like the S Pen has to go if Samsung is going to make the Ultra into something different and better than it is today. And, you know, there\u2019s mounting levels of evidence for this, removing the digitizer layer from the Galaxy Z Fold 7 so that you can\u2019t use the S Pen on it. Uh, you know, uh, removing Bluetooth connectivity from the S Pen inside the Galaxy S25 Ultra. There\u2019s lots of evidence to suggest that Samsung is slowly weaning its fans away from the S Pen so that when it does announce, you know, we\u2019re getting rid of it, the backlash won\u2019t be nearly as much. That\u2019s my theory anyways.<\/p>\n
11:36 \u2013 Mishaal Rahman: No, I mean, I totally, totally agree. Like just look how much space this takes up internally, right? Like surely they could slightly fit a slightly bigger battery, reduce the thickness just a little bit. You know, all these changes they made with the fold. In all honestly the S Pen on the Fold, in my opinion, has always felt tacked on just with the way you have to get this super awkward bulky case attached to it just to have the S Pen residing somewhere even near the phone. But if you\u2019re an S Pen fan, the tablets will definitely still have them because like that\u2019s where it makes the most sense. Almost every high-end premium tablet has pen support and I doubt they\u2019ll ever kill off pen support on their tab line. So you can at least rest assured it\u2019ll survive in some form. I just don\u2019t think it\u2019s going to be sticking around on the S series for very long.<\/p>\n
12:21 \u2013 C. Scott Brown: Yeah, and for the small, you know, 1% of Samsung users who are literally addicted to the S Pen, they would not give it up ever. You just have to do what the Fold does now or or the Galaxy Z Fold 6, I should say anyway, where you have a case that has an S Pen in it and you can use it as much as you want. But I think that the days of an S Pen built into an Ultra are either over or nearly over.<\/p>\n
12:47 \u2013 Mishaal Rahman: And another feature that I really want to see Samsung go full force in and implementing is the Linux terminal, which I published an article earlier this week that kind of talks about why I think the Google Linux terminal that they introduced into the Android will play a huge part in transforming Android into a proper desktop operating system. So, just a little bit of context.<\/p>\n
13:08 \u2013 C. Scott Brown: So I\u2019m going to need your help here. Like I need to know. I am not a Linux guy. I am a Windows guy. I need some explanation here. So, so start at the beginning, explain like I\u2019m five.<\/p>\n
13:19 \u2013 Mishaal Rahman: Don\u2019t get me wrong, I\u2019m also a Windows guy, right? So I but I\u2019m approaching this from like an academic, interesting perspective because like I want to see what it will looks like when Android becomes a desktop OS. And why do I think the Linux terminal will play a big role in making that a possibility is just because of what it\u2019s capable of doing. So the Linux terminal, for those who you don\u2019t know, this is a basically it\u2019s an app that Google introduced in the March 2025 Pixel feature drop. And it basically it allows you to run a full-fledged Linux distribution, called Debian in a virtual machine on your Android device. So those of you who might be aware that Android is built on top of the Linux kernel, like many other Linux distributions are as well. However, you can\u2019t, there\u2019s a lot of apps that are built for Linux distributions that you can\u2019t run on Android devices because even though they share the same underlying kernel, but the way that Android implements and supports a lot of these applications is there\u2019s this incompatibility that allows them to run on between the platforms. So you have an application that\u2019s built for standard Linux distributions, it might not run without recompiling it to allow it to run on Android. And so this basically this virtual machine allows you to run a full-fledged Linux build on your Android device allowing you to access a lot of these Linux applications without having to remake them, which would be a big burden on developers. And the reason you might want to do that is because there\u2019s a lot of applications that just aren\u2019t available on Android at all and might never be without this kind of compatibility layer. So for example, those of you who have a Steam deck, I think you have a Steam deck, right, Scott?<\/p>\n
15:03 \u2013 C. Scott Brown: I don\u2019t have a Steam Deck, but I\u2019ve used one and I\u2019ve also reviewed the the Valve OS version, not Valve OS, Steam OS version of the Lenovo, what was it called? Legion, Legion Go S. Yes, the Legion Go S. I reviewed that.\u00a0<\/p>\n
15:19 \u2013 Mishaal Rahman: Steam OS. Those of you who are familiar with the Steam deck or Steam OS might know that it is running Linux, right? But you\u2019re able to play a lot of Windows games on it, like games that are built for Windows PCs. That is possible because Valve helped develop a compatibility layer called Proton that allows games that are built for Windows to be basically translated and run in real time on Linux PCs. So theoretically, if Android devices were able to run the full-fledged builds of Linux, you might also be able to gain access to that Proton compatibility layer and also run full-fledged Windows games. Now, there\u2019s a little there\u2019s a small caveat to that, which I\u2019ll get back to in a little bit, but it is worth noting that this is not really like a theoretical capability. Like if you have a Chromebook, for example, Steam on Chromebooks uses the exact same setup. When you install Steam on your Chromebook, it installs a Linux virtual machine on your device and it uses that same Proton compatibility layer to run Windows games on your Chromebook. Now, there\u2019s a little complication with the Android side of things with the fact that most Android devices don\u2019t have X86 CPUs, they have ARM CPUs, which is completely different architecture. So you can\u2019t just straight up run the existing version of Proton. It would require a lot of reworking. There are rumors that Valve is working on that and which is like, you know, totally outside of this scope of discussion, but you know, it\u2019s something to look forward to. Like in the future, maybe five years from now, we\u2019ll have full-fledged Windows games running natively on through translation on Android devices. And at the same time in five years from now, we might even be able to develop Android apps from an Android device because right now if you want to make an Android app, you\u2019re a developer, you got to buy a MacBook, you have to buy a Linux PC or you got to buy a Windows PC. You can\u2019t buy an Android phone or an Android PC because there are no Android PCs and develop an Android app on it. But Google wants to change that. They want you to be able to do everything that you can do right now from your MacBook or from your Windows PC right on an Android phone or an Android PC. So that\u2019s kind of what they\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n
17:33 \u2013 C. Scott Brown: So theoretically this would eliminate the need for you to have multiple devices. You know, you could have a smartphone that, you know, cost $1200, $1000, whatever the case may be, and then, you know, some sort of system for connecting it to a laptop shell or a desktop, you know, monitor and mouse and keyboard, whatever system you have, and then just that would be it. Like you wouldn\u2019t have to have, you know, you wouldn\u2019t have to buy a smartphone every five years and a laptop every five years, you would just have this one device that would just do everything for you.<\/p>\n
18:06 \u2013 Mishaal Rahman: I think that would be neat, but I don\u2019t think that\u2019s exactly what Google has planned. Like it\u2019s true that a lot of people are seeing this desktop stuff that Google\u2019s working on in Android 16 and like, oh, Google wants you to replace your laptop with an Android phone. It is true that they\u2019re working on making desktop windowing better and as you can see in this article, they want you to be able to run full-fledged Linux apps. But the end goal is to actually have Android become a proper desktop operating system. so you can have laptops running Android natively. So instead of Mac OS, Windows laptops, you\u2019ll have Android laptops. and then these capabilities make a lot more sense on laptops and on devices with bigger integrated displays. Because you know on Android phones.<\/p>\n
18:51 \u2013 C. Scott Brown: What would this mean for Chrome OS though?<\/p>\n
18:54 \u2013 Mishaal Rahman: Chrome OS, that\u2019s interesting because Google right now develops two separate operating systems, but that\u2019s pretty inefficient. So, last year we reported that Google wants to merge Chrome OS and Android into a single platform. And then just earlier this month, a Google just went out and said it that we\u2019re planning on combining them into a single platform. So, I actually think this Linux, this all this work that Google\u2019s doing on this Linux platform underneath the hood is actually in preparation for that merger. Because as I mentioned earlier, you have Steam support on Chromebooks and that is done through their Linux VM under the hood. and Chromebooks can also run Android Studio and that is also accomplished through the Linux virtualization capabilities of Chrome OS. So, a lot of this stuff we\u2019re seeing, this these new capabilities in Android, the Linux terminal, the desktop Chrome, all these efforts are what I think is Google working towards combining Chrome OS and Android.<\/p>\n
19:50 \u2013 C. Scott Brown: So what kind of timeline do you think we\u2019re on for this? Like that that I feel is the big missing link, the big missing question.<\/p>\n
19:58 \u2013 Mishaal Rahman: I think from from me, my personal timeline from what I\u2019m seeing is like, how good do I think it is? How soon do I think I can actually use this as my daily driver? I think we\u2019re still several years away from it ever replacing windows for me. But, I\u2019ve heard some pretty remarkable timelines, like maybe even potentially next year we might get like a soft reveal of what Google\u2019s working on. That\u2019s fast. Like that\u2019s much earlier than I expected. Like what it was actually mentioned in a Wired article shortly after Google I\/O, they mentioned like, oh, stay tuned, we might have something to show you next year. So maybe we\u2019ll see something announced. Like I doubt they will launch full-fledged PCs next year. Like I I doubt that\u2019s going to happen, but I think they\u2019ll at least start talking about it. Kind of like how they started talking about Android XR at December of last year, even though we don\u2019t have any XR devices on the market yet, I think that\u2019s how we might get that kind of announcement.<\/p>\n
20:54 \u2013 C. Scott Brown: Okay. So what can we do right now? Like, you know, like where are we in this journey if if it\u2019s, you know, a year from now we\u2019re going to see actual announcement.<\/p>\n
21:05 \u2013 Mishaal Rahman: So we\u2019re actually much further along than I thought we were. Like, right now, if you install the second Android Canary build on your Pixel phone, you can actually run a full-fledged desktop version of Chromium complete with extension support, the desktop rendering engine. So, you know, those of us who work on like custom WordPress behind the scenes know how painful it is to try using that with mobile Chrome. Finally, you can get the full desktop Chrome working. You can also have full-fledged desk Linux apps like GIMP, which is an image editor. You can also get Libre Office, which is a full-fledged desktop suite. There\u2019s a lot of Linux apps, only apps that you can get running right now. There\u2019s of course, it\u2019s not going to be bug-free. You\u2019re going to have some issues installing some things and getting things running because of the fact that most Pixel devices run arm CPUs, but it runs surprisingly well right now considering they\u2019ve only been working on it for a couple of months now.<\/p>\n
22:06 \u2013 C. Scott Brown: What what so, you know, just just just from an industry perspective, when Qualcomm, you know, and Microsoft really really pushed hard with the launch of the new uh Snapdragon-based PCs uh and Windows on Arm kind of like making a comeback of sorts. Um, you know, that that was a huge push behind both Qualcomm and Microsoft and still I think that Windows on Arm is not nearly as there as it needs to be to make it a viable thing for most people. Most people are still going to want an X86 laptop of some kind. Um, do you think that Google can do it? Do you think that now Google\u2019s sort of stepping in the ring and being like, we want arm powered laptops or computers or systems of some kind running on Linux, uh, you know, is that going to be another big push or or or is the deck stacked against them?<\/p>\n
22:59 \u2013 Mishaal Rahman: Well, the deck was always against Qualcomm and Microsoft\u2019s initiative because, you know, they had to convince developers to port their applications to a new platform, Windows on Arm, because most legacy applications are already built for X86. Personally, I do own a Windows on arm laptop and I do think they\u2019ve made a lot of progress on that front. But Google on the other hand, they\u2019re coming from the opposite direction. There\u2019s already a ton of applications built for arm-based Android devices. So if you have arm-based Android PCs, a lot of that software will just run without any issue. The only challenge will be, of course, developers have to adapt their applications so it actually looks nice on a larger display. And as we\u2019ve seen with Google\u2019s tablet efforts, that\u2019s a that\u2019s a long challenge that they\u2019ve had to they still have yet to overcome fully.<\/p>\n
23:48 \u2013 C. Scott Brown: Yeah, well, I feel like, you know, maybe AI is going to help with that, you know, maybe somebody could just ask an AI to can you make my app look better in large screens, please?<\/p>\n
23:59 \u2013 Mishaal Rahman: I don\u2019t know if you can ask an AI to do that, but you might be able to ask an AI to help read your screen and just help you throughout your day with whatever you want to do. So earlier this week we published an article talking about Google\u2019s Magic Q feature for the Pixel series that will be able to read your screen to provide helpful suggestions whenever you need it. So this follows on a rumor that we heard actually Camilla Wajikowska, apologies if I said that wrong, who for Android Authority published an article talking about the long rumored pixel sense feature, which basically it\u2019s an on-device AI assistant. It\u2019s not like a true assistant like assistant or Gemini, but it\u2019s basically going to be reading things that you\u2019re doing, pulling information from your applications and then proactively suggesting things to do throughout the day. And then later on we learned that this might be launched under the name Magic Q. and right now, like these rumors came from leaked applications, leaked firmware and things like that. Like there was no concrete public facing evidence that we could find. until I started digging into the second Canary build and I discovered some strings that kind of directly corroborate these leaks suggesting that Google\u2019s working on a magic Q feature. So, what exactly is the magic Q going to be able to do? Like, when we looked at the strings, basically the assistant would be able to collect app usage data, it\u2019ll be able to read your screen, it\u2019ll be able to like pull data from certain Google applications and then it can offer you personalized suggestions. So for example, if a friend asks for your flight number in a chat, Magic Q can find it from your Gmail. So things like that. It\u2019ll like, you know, you get a message from your friend, it\u2019ll detect that they\u2019re asking for your flight number. Magic Q will have recognized that, oh, you have that flight number saved in your Gmail. It\u2019ll pull it up and then you can probably instantly copy, paste and insert that into your message thread.<\/p>\n
26:02 \u2013 C. Scott Brown: I can already hear privacy uh nuts just just screaming, screaming right now because this sounds very invasive.<\/p>\n
26:11 \u2013 Mishaal Rahman: True, it does. Yeah, it does sound a little scary. It is worth noting that Google, at least according to the leaks, have mentioned that this will be working on device. So there hasn\u2019t been any confirmation about how it works, but if we think back to with the Pixel 9 launch, when they introduced the multimodal Gemini Nano model, that allows it to basically read and analyze images. And that\u2019s what powers the Pixel screenshot feature. When you take a screenshot, it reads that and then it automatically detects what\u2019s in it and then it categorizes it. Maybe with the Pixel 10 and maybe with this upgraded Tensor G5, maybe it can do that more often. Maybe it can continuously analyze what\u2019s going on on your screen. Maybe it\u2019s constantly taking screenshots and basically detecting what\u2019s going on and then it can detect that and then pull in information that you\u2019ve already given it through your Gemini app access and then proactively suggest information. So maybe that\u2019s what it\u2019s doing because like I think that would be one way for it to run completely on device and privately because if it\u2019s doing it through Gemini Nano, that runs entirely on device using the private compute core of your Android device.<\/p>\n
27:17 \u2013 C. Scott Brown: So this is really cool, but you know, from a technological standpoint, this sounds really interesting, like the idea that your phone can help you proactively do things. Like that\u2019s really cool. My question is as a smartphone consumer, how is Google going to sell this? Like how is Google going to explain what this does to a person, you know, like my dad, who is just going to be like, what, my phone is listening to me and it\u2019s going to tell me that I should check my email. Like I I I think that Google has an uphill mountain to climb to make this something that is marketable.<\/p>\n
27:54 \u2013 Mishaal Rahman: I think one of the strengths of a lot of the Pixel AI features is they don\u2019t really have to explain many things. Like a lot of their features are kind of like set and forget. You enable it once and it comes up later, it\u2019s helpful and it works for you. kind of like Now Playing, right? Like you don\u2019t proactively go out and use Now Playing. You just set it and then later on throughout the day you hear a song, you turn your phone on and you just have the song lyric, the song name at the bottom of your lock screen. It\u2019s just a very helpful feature that\u2019s in the background. And I think that\u2019s probably what this feature is going to be like. You know, you\u2019re just going throughout your day, you\u2019re just using Gmail, YouTube, Google Maps, messages, you know, like you normally do. And then all of a sudden, you get a message from your friend that asks for your flight number and then you\u2019ll get this queue that says, hey, you want to insert this flight details from your Gmail? You\u2019ll be like, oh, that\u2019s neat. Let me just insert that, right? I don\u2019t think this is something a lot of users will have to actively think about. It\u2019s just going to be something that\u2019s like, oh, I didn\u2019t know my phone could do that. That\u2019s awesome.<\/p>\n
28:53 \u2013 C. Scott Brown: Yeah, you\u2019re right. I think that this that\u2019s something that Google excels at is keeping everything running sort of in the background and you don\u2019t even know it\u2019s there. But on the flip side, I just made a video uh for my C. Scott Brown YouTube channel uh going over my favorite pixel features that don\u2019t, you know, that they\u2019re kind of hidden that Google doesn\u2019t really promote that well. And an overwhelming number of comments are people saying like, I didn\u2019t know that Now Playing existed. I didn\u2019t know that um that you know, the select screen in the overview menu existed. I\u2019ve been taking screenshots and cropping my screenshots for years now. I didn\u2019t know that I could just tap on the thing in the overview menu. So I feel like Google does need to have some sort of way to explain this, but you\u2019re right, this might be a situation where it just sort of is like, this is a really cool feature guys when you set up your phone for the first time, big alert says, this is really cool, turn this on. People turn it on and then it\u2019s just good, like it just gets better as they go. Um, so yeah, it might be one of those situations.<\/p>\n
29:55 \u2013 Mishaal Rahman: Yeah, they\u2019re probably going to struggle with getting people to be aware of it. I think they have been introducing people to a lot of their AI features through the setup wizard. But I don\u2019t know, like I don\u2019t know what the average person does, what they\u2019re thinking when they\u2019re setting up their phone. They\u2019re probably just like, skip, skip, skip, skip, skip. Let me get to my home screen, let me get to my messages, let me install my apps as quickly as possible. They don\u2019t really read it. It feels like it\u2019s even worse for us tech reviewers because we\u2019re like, we\u2019re so done looking through the setup wizard. We just try to get to the home screen to do our benchmarks and install our stuff as soon as possible.<\/p>\n
30:24 \u2013 C. Scott Brown: Yeah, man, it\u2019s just like every time. And yeah, so if that screen gets longer, if that section if there\u2019s more screen. Oh my god, it\u2019s gonna be even worse. But obviously, we\u2019re the minority and we shouldn\u2019t complain. Like we have wonderful jobs. We get to test out this stuff before people do. But uh, but yeah, no, that an extra screen there is going to be that\u2019s prime real estate that Google\u2019s not going to mess with too often.<\/p>\n
30:47 \u2013 Mishaal Rahman: Yeah. Yeah. I mean hopefully they use that space to educate people about features we really want them to turn on like find up. Please everyone, turn on find up, enable that find everywhere option so we can finally make find up better.<\/p>\n
31:01 \u2013 C. Scott Brown: Yeah, seriously, like Google is already way behind the curve uh with Apple in regards to like the find my system that Apple has. Uh and so yeah, like people not really engaging much with the system that Google has created is only going to make it more difficult for Google to be successful in combating that. But um but yeah, so I mean with Magic Cue, like I don\u2019t know, like to me this sounds a little bit like agentic AI. Like obviously it\u2019s not a specific thing with agentic AI, but it sounds similar to that. Could this be like a stepping stone maybe to that being something that we use regularly on a pixel phone or or an Android phone in general?<\/p>\n
31:46 \u2013 Mishaal Rahman: I don\u2019t really consider this agentic AI. Agentic AI is more you proactively ask it to do a task and it does it for you. I think we\u2019re already getting some of that kind of agentic AI capabilities in Chrome, in Gemini. Um, we might see some of that stuff maybe on the pixel, maybe they\u2019ll announce some on device capabilities because I mean, I don\u2019t see why not? why it wouldn\u2019t work in theory. We saw it Google I\/O. There was actually a demo of an agentic Project Astra running on like a Pixel phone where it asked Gemini to do stuff and it would actually open apps. It would scroll a PDF and find something. So I think that is something that we might get in the future. I just don\u2019t know if Magic Cue is a part of that.<\/p>\n
32:26 \u2013 C. Scott Brown: Yeah, what I mean is it sounds like Magic Cue is like a stepping stone. Oh yeah yeah yeah. It\u2019s like it\u2019s like this is something where it\u2019s like, you know, uh the AI is doing something for you. Obviously this is something where the AI is determining whether or not to do it for you instead of you asking and saying, please go to this website and get this, you know, restaurant reservation made for me without me having to lift a finger. But yeah, but I think that this seems like a stepping stone kind of situation, maybe to get people more used to the idea of AI kind of interjecting and doing something for them that is helpful. Like obviously, you know, there are a lot of people out there probably listening to this that hate AI. You know, they hate talking about AI. They\u2019re so sick of AI being injected and everything. And I\u2019m sick of it too. As a person who gets, you know, 100 emails a day from companies pitching themselves so we can write about them and they have AI in their names that makes no sense. Like, you know, we\u2019re a pet feeder AI. It\u2019s like, what? Why is AI in your name? Uh you know, I\u2019m sick of it too, but at the same time, like there are lots of cool use cases that could present itself that could be genuinely beneficial for users. And I think that, you know, Magic Cue on paper, the way that we\u2019re hearing it right now doesn\u2019t sound like revolutionary in any way, but it does sort of represent the idea that here is AI doing something proactively that\u2019s helpful for you, um that makes your life easier and, you know, gets gets things done faster and all that. So I like things like this. I like AI when it comes in a package where I\u2019m like, oh, this actually makes sense to me. It\u2019s not just like, you know, just AI for the sake of AI to make sure that our shareholders don\u2019t stop funding us.<\/p>\n
34:13 \u2013 Mishaal Rahman: Agreed. Agreed, agreed. I\u2019m totally tired of AI too. I\u2019m just like, just ignore this giant Gemini logo I\u2019m wearing on my t-shirt right here.<\/p>\n
34:25 \u2013 Mishaal Rahman: thanks to everyone for listening. That\u2019s everything we\u2019ve got for you this week. You can find links to all the stories mentioned in this episode in the show notes and you can find more amazing stories over on Android authority.com.<\/p>\n
34:37 \u2013 C. Scott Brown: Uh thanks for listening to this Android Authority Insights podcast. Uh we publish every week on YouTube, Spotify, and other podcast platforms. You can follow us everywhere on social media at Android Authority and you can follow me personally on Instagram, Blue Sky, and my own YouTube channel at C. Scott Brown.<\/p>\n
34:55 \u2013 Mishaal Rahman: As for me, I\u2019m on most social media platforms posting day in and day out about Android. If you want to keep up with the latest in Android, go to my link tree and find me on the platform that you like best. Thanks for listening.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"00:00 \u2013 Mishaal Rahman: Samsung might be killing the Galaxy S26, well, at least the base model.\u00a0 00:05…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":132724,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[11703,80423,611,158,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-132723","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mobile","8":"tag-authority-insights","9":"tag-authority-insights-podcast","10":"tag-mobile","11":"tag-technology","12":"tag-united-states","13":"tag-unitedstates","14":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132723","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132723"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132723\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/132724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}