gratefully , the mania of Black Friday is behind us and the technical school news show total thick and fast this hebdomad . Here are the winners and losers for this week in tech .
In the UK , there was the blockbuster word of a novel biggest nomadic electronic connection in townsfolk . The approval of the plannedmerger between Vodafone and Threecreates the freehanded supplier in the United Kingdom .
We ’re not sure whether that ’s a win or a loss for anyone yet , but we ’re not down to three supplier with owned and operate spectrum in the UK EE , where there was once five . There ’s now just EE ( which was Orange and T - Mobile ) , O2 , and this new Threedafone option . Traditionally speaking , less competition means higher price , but we ’ll see .
Wearable tech pioneerOura will now state smart ring wearers when they ’re getting gruesome , while devotee of the departed MacBook Pro Touchbar might beheartened by news of a Modern Kickstarterproject blend great hitman . Sony also discourage the benefits of AI in game development can not be at theexpense of the ‘ human tinge ’ .
With Max , the stream humanity go forward toget more like the television landscape it tried to replace , while on the euphony streaming side the major supplier startedissuing their roundups for 2024 .
Keep reading to learn who we named our winner and loser in technical school this week .
Winner: Google Pixel
If you ’re the majestic proprietor of a Google Pixel 6 or Pixel 7 series smartphone , or the original Pixel Fold you are a winner this week . Google surprisingly announce it is further the life-time of these handsets withsupport for Android operating scheme and security update for an additional two long time .
The Pixel 6 , for example , had officially ran out of road with Android 15 , with Google only predict three years of updates following its launching in 2021 . Now the Pixel 6 , Pixel 6 Pro and Pixel 6a ( eff that ) will get Android 16 next twelvemonth and Android 17 the yr after .
The Pixel 7 range and original Pixel Fold will now exist to see Android 18 .
It ’s a with child fillip for owner of those phones , especially those with the ‘ a ’ serial handsets , which continue to be the absolute best value in the smartphone realm .
From the Pixel 8 forwards , Google now prognosticate seven years of Android updates , but retrospectively add up two years of support to older phone is a classy move that ’s sure to increase good will among users .
Loser: Spotify Wrapped 2024
spoiled vibes aroundSpotify Wrapped this year . The usual fervour was exchange by unfavorable judgment as the teem giant chose not to furnish auditor with their favourite albums and genres of the twelvemonth . Instead , it go with an perfectly infuriating inclination of micro - genre as part of so called “ Music Evolution ” throughout the year .
Apparently June was my “ Psychedelic Beatlesesque Classic Rock time of year ” and October was my “ Indie Sleaze Skateboarding Punk moment ” .
For others it was unsound ( see below ) .
What ’s with this current bo****ks where everything needs to be assigned to an “ era ” or a “ SZN ” ? Just tell me which band I listened to most this year and let me apportion it with my friends . give thanks you .
It got even bad with the inevitable undesirable penetration of AI , where two bot talked through your year in medicine with the faux ebullience you ’d wait from a commercial-grade radio legion who ’d been tell Monday break of day was a Nickelback battle of Marathon . I’vehad more of a say on that front here .
in person , I was disappointed with Wrapped this year , because it made me make how narrow my horizons have become . I used to rely on Spotify as a music breakthrough tool , but now I feel it has gotten to know me too well and is simply playing more of what I mind to all the metre . Or , as one Guardian columnistput itthis week : “ It ’s Spotify wind time of year : a monitor of how fantastically dull cyclosis services have made us ”
