The Verge: All Posts by Dieter Bohnhttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/52801/VER_Logomark_32x32..png2022-03-04T13:00:00-05:00https://www.theverge.com/authors/dieter-bohn/rss2022-03-04T13:00:00-05:002022-03-04T13:00:00-05:00A heartfelt farewell from Dieter Bohn
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<figcaption>Photo by Vjeran Pavic</figcaption>
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<p>I’m moving on from media</p>
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<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2022/3/4/22960011/farewell-from-dieter-bohn">Continue reading…</a>
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https://www.theverge.com/2022/3/4/22960011/farewell-from-dieter-bohnDieter Bohn2022-01-07T09:00:00-05:002022-01-07T09:00:00-05:00CES had a pretty good year
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<img alt="A BMW concept using e-ink to automatically change the paint color on a car from white to black and back again" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/5bJO2NqWdUmUgjGuobP-7_cVb3A=/34x0:4929x3263/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/70358935/37_SW_FinBMW_iX_eInk_Seite_02.0.jpg" />
<figcaption><em>A BMW concept using e-ink to automatically change the paint color on a car from white to black and back again</em> | BMW</figcaption>
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<p id="q83Crg">Another year of the Consumer Electronics Show has wrapped up, and it was a strange one: the weeks leading up to it were filled with cancellations due to Omicron, and as a result the show floor was virtually empty. The keynote presentations lacked the usual spectacle; the pomp was overshadowed by the circumstance.</p>
<p id="O71uDU">Nevertheless, I <a href="https://twitter.com/backlon/status/1478409885431730179">found myself surprised</a> to realize that CES 2022 was a slightly better than average year for the show. There weren’t any industry-shaking products announced and shipping — but that almost never happens at CES, and the expectation that it should was always misguided.</p>
<p id="pUZvUh">Instead, we saw some genuinely good improvements on technology that will actually ship, which isn’t always the case at CES. Here are just a few of my...</p>
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<a href="https://www.theverge.com/22871243/ces-2022-recap-biggest-news">Continue reading…</a>
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https://www.theverge.com/22871243/ces-2022-recap-biggest-newsDieter Bohn2022-01-05T13:00:00-05:002022-01-05T13:00:00-05:00Android will finally get AirPod-style auto-switching in 2022
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<img alt="Fast Pairing Bluetooth headphones on Google TV" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/umyDPy7blt35oOjRW4AwHud_rno=/0x0:1080x720/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/70350972/2a._Fast_Pair_Android_TV_OS.0.png" />
<figcaption><em>Fast Pairing Bluetooth headphones on Google TV</em> | Google</figcaption>
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<p id="M6Yqnz">Google plans to spend the next few months beefing up the Bluetooth headphone capabilities on Android phones. It plans to update its Fast Pair technology to include features that iPhone and AirPod users have long enjoyed. With supported headphones (which presumably are forthcoming in 2022 but have not yet been announced), audio sources including Android phones, Chromebooks, Android TV, and select Windows PCs will be auto-switching. </p>
<p id="EIU1ln">Google will also begin supporting full head tracking for spatial audio on Android, adapting sound based on your head movements. It already supports basic spatial audio for a few music services right now. Unfortunately, that’s all the detail the company is providing on spatial audio right now — which means...</p>
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<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/5/22863750/android-airpod-bluetooth-auto-switching-spatial-audio-2022">Continue reading…</a>
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https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/5/22863750/android-airpod-bluetooth-auto-switching-spatial-audio-2022Dieter Bohn2022-01-05T13:00:00-05:002022-01-05T13:00:00-05:00Google will spend 2022 trying to match Apple’s ecosystem integrations
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<p id="11sJp9">Google is announcing no fewer than 13 different new software features at CES 2022, ranging from <a href="https://www.theverge.com/e/22627791">AirPods-like fast switching</a> to promised software that will mirror your Android text apps on a Chromebook. It’s part of an initiative <a href="https://blog.google/products/android/ces2022-bettertogether/">that Google calls “Better Together”</a> but that the rest of the industry is more likely to refer to as “catching up to Apple’s ecosystem.” </p>
<p id="3GdwQE">The biggest updates come to Google’s “Fast Pair” framework, an Android UI designed to make pairing Bluetooth headphones easier. This year, Google will extend it to support auto-switching between devices, faster pairing to Android TV and Google TV, and more. It will also adopt the Fast Pair framework for installing new smart home devices using the <a href="https://www.theverge.com/22787729/matter-smart-home-standard-apple-amazon-google">upcoming Matter standard</a>, which...</p>
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<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/5/22864892/google-2022-ecosystem-android-chromebook-ces-features">Continue reading…</a>
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https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/5/22864892/google-2022-ecosystem-android-chromebook-ces-featuresDieter Bohn2022-01-04T20:00:00-05:002022-01-04T20:00:00-05:00The OnePlus 10 Pro’s official specs are not the least bit surprising
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<img alt="The OnePlus 10 Pro" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/aECyOaqUHp_yzswqP9Z10n-wxb4=/0x0:6750x4500/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/70348558/OnePlus_10_Pro.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>The OnePlus 10 Pro | OnePlus</figcaption>
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<p id="O5xlWi">Rather than announce all of the details of the OnePlus 10 Pro flagship, OnePlus is choosing to space out the details in drips and drabs. <a href="https://www.theverge.com/e/22613909">First, it released an official teaser image</a> that revealed the design of the phone alongside a China release date of January 11th. Now, it’s announcing the phone’s specs, which include the newest Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor, ultra fast charging, and a 5,000mAh battery. </p>
<p id="hpZFls">If you’ve been keeping up on Android news the past few months, none of these details will come as a surprise. Flagship Android phones in the US all tend to feature Qualcomm’s most powerful processor and if there’s any interesting news here, it’s that OnePlus is getting a small jump on Samsung and becoming the first major smartphone to...</p>
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https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/4/22855743/oneplus-10-pro-android-specsDieter Bohn2021-12-07T09:00:00-05:002021-12-07T09:00:00-05:00Springboard: the secret history of the first real smartphone is now available on YouTube
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<p id="znkkjV">In 1998, Donna Dubinsky and Jeff Hawkins quit Palm, a company they’d founded, to begin a new one: Handspring. They had a simple goal in mind: to eventually create the smartphone. Years before any of the technology was actually ready, their tiny startup began laying the necessary groundwork for what would become the Treo.</p>
<p id="Zuyx7m">In <em>Springboard: the secret history of the first real smartphone</em>, we document the history of Handspring, from its dramatic beginnings to its tragic end. Along the way, we hear from five of the key players who tried to invent the modern smartphone years before the technology world was ready for it. It’s a story that interweaves the dotcom crash, technological innovations, wireless carrier resistance, and much more.</p>
<p id="5i267F">You can...</p>
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<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2021/12/7/22820571/springboard-handspring-documentary-youtube">Continue reading…</a>
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https://www.theverge.com/2021/12/7/22820571/springboard-handspring-documentary-youtubeDieter Bohn2021-11-09T11:19:02-05:002021-11-09T11:19:02-05:00Fossil Gen 6 smartwatch review: better luck next time
<p>Decent hardware saddled with old and tired software</p>
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<a href="https://www.theverge.com/22764448/fossil-gen-6-smartwatch-review">Continue reading…</a>
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https://www.theverge.com/22764448/fossil-gen-6-smartwatch-reviewDieter Bohn2021-11-01T08:44:00-04:002021-11-01T08:44:00-04:00The smartphone, circa 2031
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<p>Small improvements can go in surprising and strange directions</p>
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<a href="https://www.theverge.com/22749341/smartphones-future-predictions">Continue reading…</a>
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https://www.theverge.com/22749341/smartphones-future-predictionsDieter BohnAllison JohnsonChris Welch2021-10-21T12:00:00-04:002021-10-21T12:00:00-04:00Google lowers Play Store fees for subscriptions and music streaming apps
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<figcaption>Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge</figcaption>
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<p id="sGWkFg">As regulatory pressure on the Play Store for Android increases, Google is once again making changes to its business structure. It has announced that more categories of apps will be eligible to pay significantly less than the usual 30 percent fee. The <a href="https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2021/10/evolving-business-model.html?m=1">company is announcing</a> that all subscription-based apps will now pay a fee of 15 percent. It’s also says that “ebooks and on-demand music streaming services” will be “eligible” for a fee “as low as 10%.”</p>
<p id="F6rhMj">Google’s stated reason for the cheaper prices on ebooks and music streaming apps is that “content costs account for the majority of sales” and that the rates “recognize industry economics of media content verticals.” It’s unstated but also surely true that regulatory pressure and public...</p>
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<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2021/10/21/22738370/google-play-cut-music-streaming-apps-10-percent-regulation">Continue reading…</a>
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https://www.theverge.com/2021/10/21/22738370/google-play-cut-music-streaming-apps-10-percent-regulationDieter Bohn2021-10-19T13:55:01-04:002021-10-19T13:55:01-04:00Sundar Pichai and Rick Osterloh think the Pixel 6 is Google’s breakout phone
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<img alt="Sundar Pichai (left) and Rick Osterloh (right)" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/c65JOyfAhCAmjQ_LXU5BrePJ0f8=/0x0:2040x1360/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/70016608/dbohn_211015_4802_0001.0.jpg" />
<figcaption><em>Sundar Pichai (left) and Rick Osterloh (right).</em> | Photo by Dieter Bohn / The Verge</figcaption>
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<p>‘We acknowledge we’re a challenger’</p>
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<a href="https://www.theverge.com/22733159/sundar-pichai-rick-osterloh-google-pixel-6-interview-podcast">Continue reading…</a>
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https://www.theverge.com/22733159/sundar-pichai-rick-osterloh-google-pixel-6-interview-podcastDieter Bohn