Rita El Khoury / Android Authority For as long as phones have existed, case makers have been trying to capitalize on that market by offering protection and personalization. You buy a new phone, you buy a new case, the two go together hand in hand. But as smartphones slowly got out of their proverbial shell; dusted off their boring white and black plastic from the early 2010s; and donned new shiny, matte, metallic, glassy, colorful, or elegant attire; cases have been stuck in the same mold.

Spigen PowerArc 20W ArcStation ProYou’ll be hard-pressed to find a more compact GaN charging companion than the Spigen PowerArc ArcStation Pro, making it the perfect portable companion. It won't fast charge everything due to some compatibility issues, but 20W of power is enough for most small gadgets. Gallium nitride (GaN) technology is driving a revolution in small, efficient, low-temperature USB-C chargers. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a more compact GaN charging companion than the Spigen PowerArc 20W ArcStation Pro wall charger.

Leaks have once again revealed the existence of a Google-branded Android TV dongle, similar in form factor to a Chromecast. But unlike the Chromecast, this device doesn’t restrict you to casting only and comes equipped with its own TV remote. We can only see the top half of the remote in the leaked material, but we really hope Google steers clear of one of the most annoying practices in the Android TV space today.

TL;DR The three-year-old Samsung Galaxy Note 9 will no longer get monthly security updates. Instead, owners of the phone will have to wait three months to get cumulative security updates. Samsung will be slowly phasing out support for the Note 9. The change in updates is not exactly a surprise. The Galaxy Note 9 has been available since September 2018, so having 36 months of regular monthly security updates is actually better than normal.

BLU gets a lot right with the R1 HD, with its solid design and build quality, decent performance, and clean software experience. While the camera suffers and the lockscreen ads (with the Prime exclusive version) can be annoying, its unbeatable price point more than makes up for any negatives. Table of contents Florida-based BLU enjoys a popular presence in the affordable Android smartphone market, with a slew of entry-level and mid-range devices on offer, that are great options for those on a budget.

TL;DR Prominent Nokia and Apple camera bigwig Ari Partinen has joined Microsoft’s Surface camera team. The news suggests that the Surface Duo line could be in for major camera improvements. A former Nokia PureView and Apple camera bigwig has announced that he has joined Microsoft’s Surface imaging team, and the news gives us hope that future Surface and Surface Duo devices could actually deliver good camera quality. Ari Partinen took to Twitter to confirm his new role, but it’s unclear whether the new hire will focus on Android-powered Surface devices (i.

TL;DR Google is reportedly working on an AR headset to compete with Apple, Meta, and Microsoft. Codenamed Project Iris, the headset will run on custom Google silicon and will not require a tethered connection to a power source. Google hopes to ship the device in 2024. Google has a long history with AR and VR headsets, and it looks like added pressure from companies like Meta and Apple are pushing Google to take things more seriously.

If you were asked to pick a single technological innovation that revolutionized the modern world, that brought us into a new era of globalized commerce, exchange, and communication, and which totally overhauled the way we think about the size of our world and our interconnectedness as human beings, then your only real option is: Containerization, which is the standardization of intermodal freight transport containers for use on trucks, trains, and container ships.

TL;DR After its soft-launch in late May, MapleStory M is now available in over 140 countries. A remake of the original MapleStory, the game features five classes and auto-button functionality. For some time, I only knew MapleStory as the 15-year-old game my brother threw hundreds of dollars at. Now, I know it as the game that is available for everyone following its soft-launch in several countries in late May.

TL;DR In the US and Canada, there won’t be any Samsung Galaxy Note 20 headphones in the box. However, you can get a complimentary pair by contacting Samsung’s customer care team. The headphones will be AKG-branded USB-C wired earbuds. When Samsung’s Galaxy Note 20 goes on sale in the US on August 21, it will come with slightly different in-box contents than its international counterparts. Namely, there won’t be any Samsung Galaxy Note headphones to find.