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News Weekly: Your Tech Roundup

Welcome to this week’s edition of News Weekly, where we summarize the biggest tech stories that you might have missed. This week, we’ll explore fascinating innovations from the Mobile World Congress (MWC), the launch of the Nothing Phone 3a and 3a Pro, delays in One UI 7, Google’s March feature drop for Pixel users, and updates from OnePlus. Let’s dive in!

Highlights from MWC

Exciting Innovations

Mobile World Congress (MWC) is an event where the latest and greatest in technology is showcased. This year, we saw some incredible devices that certainly caught our attention.

Samsung’s Tri-Fold Phone: Imagine a phone that folds in two separate sections! Samsung’s new design features a claw-like tri-fold mechanism that leaves a small gap in the middle when closed, almost resembling a fist. It’s a bold move in folding phone design.
Tecno Spark Slim: This gadget boasts the title of the world’s slimmest phone, measuring just 5.75mm thick while housing a powerful 5,200mAh battery. The design is sleek, with a camera bar on the back that gives it a high-tech look, kind of like a robot’s eyes in a sci-fi movie.
Xiaomi’s Custom Camera: Xiaomi presented a unique concept with the Xiaomi 15. It features a large magnetic ring on the back that allows you to attach various camera lenses to your phone, essentially transforming it into a DSLR camera.
Honor’s AI Robotic Hand: There was also an interactive display featuring an AI-powered robotic hand, allowing users to experience its technology firsthand. Other notable innovations included a rotating camera zoom feature on the Nubia Focus 2 Ultra and some slightly eerie humanoid robots from the UAE.

Launch of the Nothing Phone 3a and 3a Pro

After much anticipation, Nothing has revealed its flagship phones at MWC.

Key Features

Screen: Both the Nothing Phone 3a and 3a Pro come with 6.7-inch AMOLED displays that are protected by Panda Glass.
Performance: They are powered by the Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 processor and run on Nothing OS 3.1, which is built on Android 15.
Camera Upgrades:
- Nothing Phone 3a: Features include a pill-shaped rear camera setup with a 50MP main lens, another 50MP telephoto lens, and an 8MP ultrawide lens. The front camera has an impressive 32MP sensor.
- Nothing Phone 3a Pro: Instead, it boasts a circular camera array, including a 50MP main camera, an 8MP ultrawide lens, and a 50MP periscope sensor that offers 3x optical zoom.
Pricing: The Nothing Phone 3a is priced at $379, while the pro version starts at $459.

Delays in One UI 7 Update

Samsung has been rolling out beta versions of One UI 7 for several months now. However, users will have to wait longer for the stable version to be released.

Update Details

Samsung announced that One UI 7 will officially launch in April. Before then, they plan to roll out three beta versions. This update will benefit various devices, including the Galaxy Z Flip 6, Z Fold 6, Galaxy S23 series, and Galaxy Tab S10 series. One UI 7 aims to introduce AI integration throughout the interface to enhance user experience.

Interestingly, there are rumors suggesting that Samsung might skip minor updates and move directly to One UI 8.

New Features for Pixel Users

March brought an exciting update for Pixel users.

Notable Features

Spam Protection: Google introduced AI-powered spam detection for calls, which can also alert users of suspicious text messages.
Find My Device Enhancements: The Find My Device app now allows users to share their live location only with trusted contacts for safety.
Camera Innovation: Pixel 9 series phones can now connect with GoPro or another Pixel device to enable unique camera angles during social app streaming.
Pixel Watch Features: The Pixel Watch has gained a ‘Loss of Pulse’ detection feature. If it senses an unresponsive pulse, it will send a notification and could even call emergency services. Additionally, women can track their menstrual cycles using the Pixel Watch 3.

OnePlus Clarifies Update Policy

Initially, OnePlus stated that the OnePlus Watch 3 would receive only two years of security updates. This raised concerns among users.

Update Clarifications

OnePlus has since addressed the misunderstanding, confirming that both the OnePlus Watch 2 and Watch 3 will receive three years of quarterly security updates. Even though they will get three years of software updates, major version updates will be limited to just two.

OnePlus Watch 2: Launched with Wear OS 4, it will only receive updates up to Wear OS 6 by 2026.
OnePlus Watch 3: Expected to receive Wear OS 7 by 2027.