Android Circuit: ASUS Rog Phone 8 Teased, OnePlus 12 Launch Confirmed, Epic Games Defeats Google

Taking a look back at seven days of news and headlines across the world of Android, this week’s Android Circuit includes Galaxy S24 Ultra details leak, Ultra HDR for Pixels, OnePlus 12 launch confirmed, Epic Games defeats Google, GM removes Android Auto, ROG Phone 8 teased, and a new weather app… Android Circuit is here to remind you of a few of the many things that have happened around Android in the last week ( ). More features on the upcoming Galaxy S24 family have been uncovered this week. Not only will the flagship handsets come with new display technology, but Samsung is ramping up the brightness to a staggering 2600 nits: “.

. . the Galaxy S24 Ultra’s new Dynamic AMOLED display could achieve a peak brightness output of 2,600 nits, which is up from the previous speculation of 2,500 nits.

That would place it in a great position to have one of the brightest screens, second only to what the recently announced OnePlus 12 is reportedly able to achieve. ” ( ). Google’s Pixel 8 Pro Google’s December Feature Drop has brought more features for Pixel phones.

As well as the expected introduction of video boost for the Pixel 8 family, Google has added the option for Ultra HDR pictures to be taken by the older Pixel phones, starting with the Pixel 5a: “Enabling Ultra HDR instructs the camera to store additional brightness and color information in your photo whenever you take a picture. This extra information can then be used by apps such as Google Photos, Google Chrome or Photoshop to display significantly brighter highlights and more vibrant colors on compatible displays. ” ( ).

Speaking exclusively to Forbes on the brand’s tenth anniversary, OnePlus president Kinder Liu confirmed that both the OnePlus 12 and the OnePlus 12R smartphones will be available in North America: “The 12 and the OnePlus 12R, part of its R series, will launch for the first time in North America and Europe at the company’s “Smooth Beyond Belief” event on January 23. OnePlus 10R and OnePlus 11R have gained significant popularity in China and India, so they decided to bring the R series to a wider global user base in 2024, Liu explains. ” ( ).

Epic Games has won its antitrust case against Google, with a jury returning a verdict that Google had “acquired and maintained monopoly power” with the Google Play app store. Google has confirmed it will be appealing the case, citing the choice and openness of Android. The outcome of the case could dramatically change the modern app distribution system, as John Koetisier writes: “But this and similar rulings, along with the European Union’s Digital Markets act, are slowly but surely eroding Google’s and Apple’s power to control app distribution—and monetization—on the mobile platforms that they’ve built.

15 years of how we get apps on to our phones is going to change, and change dramatically. 15 years of who makes money off apps will also change. ” ( ).

GM plans to remove Android Auto (and Apple’s CarPlay) from its upcoming electric vehicles. The in-car mirroring of smartphones is a popular and beloved feature, so why remove a strong selling point? GM’s head of product for infotainment, Tim Babbit has cited safety issues: “GM’s decision to remove Android Auto and CarPlay was because the two platforms “have stability issues” such as “bad connections, poor rendering, slow responses, and dropped connections. ” Those issues, GM argues, cause the driver to use their phone to restore the connection and, in turn, take their eyes off the road.

GM believes that its built-in Android Automotive-based system will avoid these issues. ” ( via ). Ahead of an expected launch of the ROG 8 gaming phone, manufacturer Asus has teased the handset with a short online video, showing the new selfie-camera cut out, as well as the thinner bezels: “Asus also shared more close-up renders of the recently teased ROG Phone 8 which details the new back design and its pentagon-shaped camera cutout.

Asus is also hosting a blind camera test for the ROG Phone 8 which implies the company was hard at work in overhauling the camera setup on the upcoming device. We know the ROG Phone 8 will launch with three camera sensors but we don’t have any specifics regarding the sensors so far. ” ( ).

As part of the new Android Feature Drop, Google has made its new weather app available across the entire Pixel range, including the integration with the rest of Google’s apps: “The new app is what powers weather forecasts within the Clock app. Once you’ve downloaded it (or have it automatically installed as part of your regular app updates), you will see a popup in the Clock app asking you if you’d like to add local weather. When you agree to turn it on and give the required permissions, you will find the current weather conditions attached to the time at your location and any other cities you’ve added to view different time zones in the Clock tab.

” ( ). Android Circuit rounds up the news from the Android world every weekend here on Forbes. Don’t forget to follow me so you don’t miss any coverage in the future, and of course, , and if you have any news and links you’d like to see featured in Android Circuit, get in touch!.