One UI 6.1 comes and goes, however Android was a Q1 money cow on this week’s information

Lots of the greatest firms on earth have deep ties to the Android ecosystem, and whereas Q1 2024 was large for a few of these manufacturers, previous income stories evidently had them scrambling round in backrooms to take care of their edge. Google and Samsung, the 2 greatest gamers within the area, are engaged on new {hardware} and software program to various ranges of success, however their years-old smartwatch partnership is lastly beginning to pay dividends. It may be laborious to maintain up with such a risky market, however we have now you coated with this week’s 5 greatest Android headlines in a single place.

One UI 6.1 comes and goes

For a point-one replace, Samsung’s One UI 6.1 has been fairly main — actually, the corporate says it is one of many “hottest software program updates ever” for Galaxy gadgets. And rightfully so, as it has been bringing the Galaxy AI suite of options to numerous older telephones — one thing that not many different OEMs would’ve finished, contemplating it’d stifle gross sales of the Galaxy S24 collection, which initially had unique entry to the AI performance.

However Samsung simply retains trudging forward, utilizing the One UI 6.1 replace to deliver Galaxy AI to increasingly more telephones. This week, the replace began rolling out to the Galaxy S21, S22, Flip 4, and Flip and Fold 3, although solely in Korea to start out. However because it seems, that staged regional rollout could have saved Galaxy S22 customers a ton of complications. Samsung has reportedly pulled the replace quickly after some customers observed it brought about their show to turn into unresponsive, leaving them caught on a white display.

Lawsuits give us a peak behind the Massive Tech curtain, and it is fairly shady again there

Current lawsuits have given us an unprecedented have a look at the backroom offers made by main firms like Apple, Google, and Microsoft. For one, we already knew Google was paying Apple to avoid wasting its place because the default search engine in Safari. However this week, we realized an actual determine from Google’s ongoing antitrust trial: $20 billion in 2022 alone, which provides as much as roughly 16.75% of Apple’s working earnings that 12 months.

In that very same antitrust case, an e mail chain between Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott, CEO Satya Nadella, and founder Invoice Gates revealed the corporate’s motivation in pumping large sums of seed cash into ChatGPT developer OpenAI: Microsoft feared Google’s early AI lead and knew it wanted to behave quick or keep on the sidelines. Information of shady dealings wasn’t simply restricted to {hardware} and software program firms — we additionally realized this week that the FCC is slapping all the foremost US carriers with almost $200 million in fines for the unauthorized sale of buyer location knowledge.

Android was fairly the money cow in Q1

It is that point of 12 months: Q1 2024 income stories are being introduced to shareholders, giving us a glimpse of market progress patterns within the new 12 months. Android OEMs appear to be off to a very scorching begin, with Samsung reporting income of round $51 billion and an working revenue improve of roughly $4 billion.

In the meantime, Alphabet’s Q1 2024 earnings report revealed an all-time report for Google’s father or mother firm, with an $80.5 billion acquire. The truth is, all Google divisions reported an earnings improve within the interval — sadly, that also did not cease Google from shedding “Core” US staff and chasing cheaper labor in different nations, although.

Put on OS is on a come up

When Samsung and Google partnered collectively in 2021 to deliver Android wearables beneath a unified umbrella, many thought the brand new and improved Put on OS was too late to make a distinction. And Apple Watch gross sales have proved the naysayers proper within the years that adopted, with Apple’s watchOS dominating the market share.

However Put on OS lastly seems to be making headway, with the smartwatch platform projected to develop from being on 21% of watches bought internationally in 2023, to 27% in 2024. Apple’s stranglehold could lastly be loosening, too, because the Apple Watch is projected to dip under a 50% market share for the primary time in years.

The Pixel 8a is clearly coming quickly

Let’s be sincere, Google has a behavior of leaking its personal telephones. However that probably wasn’t the case this week, as a large leak spoiled virtually every thing in regards to the upcoming Pixel 8a, together with Google’s advertising and marketing plans for the “AI-mazing” telephone. All of the enjoyable’s been taken out of equipment, too, now that we have seen the official instances in all 4 colours, plus a bonus orange possibility.

Contemplating advertising and marketing supplies have been nailed down, we won’t think about will probably be very lengthy earlier than the Pixel 8a makes its official debut. An announcement at Google I/O 2024 would make sense contemplating that is developing on Might 14 — however final 12 months’s Pixel 7a was technically introduced simply earlier than the convention, so we might see Google’s new midranger as quickly as this week.