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Forbes
3 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
The Power And The Promise Of ChatGPT Operator
To somewhat limited fanfare, OpenAI has come out with a groundbreaking tool that can use a computer for you, and it's been out most of this year, available to the company's elite tier of 'pro' users. Operator is powered by something called a computer using agent or CUA that allows the model to 'see' content on the Internet, and take actions that a human would take with a mouse and a keyboard. That means the Operator can accomplish the full life cycle of a task, such as booking a reservation or signing someone up for something. I thought it was time to address the remaining barriers to massive adoption of this agentic AI tool, as spring winds into summer. The first problem is cost. Operator now costs $200 a month, compared to $20 a month for all of the other things that ChatGPT can do. It seems like the vast majority of average users are waiting for the cost to come down. Read this review from Mike Todasco at Medium, and you'll see that he just doesn't feel like the technology is worth $200 a month: 'If this is the future, then I don't think we need to worry about AI Agents taking our jobs,' Todasco writes. 'Operator is a mess, and sure as heck not worth an extra $180/month. I spent several days trying to find any usefulness in it. But in the end, I had to hang up on this experiment.' What if it was $40 a month? Where would daily user numbers be at right now? Of course, we don't really have anything to compare it to, since OpenAI has not released user numbers for Operator currently. You could also make the argument that Operator is vaguely genetic – that although it has the ability to use the Internet, it doesn't have prebuilt task management tools in hand. It's more of a do-it-yourself kind of task-based system. The CUA is absolutely compelling as technology – it combines prior work on computer vision and tool use to offer the kind of environment that we've been waiting for a long time. However, for most people, it's still too expensive. Right now, people are adding their own data to ChatGPT in granular ways, to come up with responses. The same would apply to task-based systems. You're going to have to decide how much data you trust Operator with in order for it to do its work. You'll have to also figure out how much you want to delegate, and what you want to keep for yourself. And we'll have to figure out, as users, how to deal with the hacker community, where black hats and bad actors will presumably be trying to get Operator to do things that you don't want it to do. However, there's so much potential here that I thought it warranted a post today to talk about the potential moving forward, and that makes sense, since the company just recently unveiled Operator o3. Cark Franzen at VentureBeat provides these potential use cases: 'Data engineers can delegate manual web interactions—such as data verification and scraping—with more confidence, freeing time for higher-level optimization work. Security professionals, meanwhile, gain a safer way to simulate user behavior in audits and incident response exercises, thanks to the model's layered safety mechanisms.' Over at Reddit, OpenAI did an AMA (Ask Me Anything) on Operator, where VP of Research Jerry Tworek said this: "We… already have a product surface that can do things on your computer … we're planning to make some improvements soon and it can become a very useful tool then.' If you agree with this assessment, we are very close to enormous user bases playing around with the first over-the-counter agentic systems of their kind. We just need a little bit of a discount.
The Verge
3 days ago
- Business
- The Verge
Surface Laptop 13-inch review: a little less for a little less
Microsoft finally found its answer to the MacBook Air last year with the 13.8-inch Surface Laptop (formerly known as 7th Edition). That Snapdragon X-powered laptop matched the MacBook in build quality, battery life, and at least some aspects of performance — something Windows laptop makers have been trying to do for ages. The 13.8-inch Surface Laptop was brilliant, but Windows on Arm's occasional app incompatibility stopped it just shy of being the default alternative to the MacBook Air. Nearly a year later, Microsoft has new Snapdragon-based Surfaces that are a little smaller and a little cheaper. The $899.99 13-inch Surface Laptop is nearly as great as last year's, despite some cost-cutting measures like a lower-resolution screen, a processor with two fewer cores, no face unlock, and no magnetic charging port. The hardware remains excellent, and Windows on Arm is even slightly better than last year. It'll probably work fine for some of you, but not all. The base 13-inch Surface Laptop, officially known as the Microsoft Surface 13-inch 1st Edition with Snapdragon (man alive, what a name), has an 8-core Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus processor, 16GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage. For an additional $100, you can get 512GB of storage. If you want more RAM or storage — or a more powerful processor — you'll need to jump to last year's 13.8-inch model, which now starts at $1,099.99 with a 10-core processor and 512GB SSD. There isn't a single major flaw in the new Surface Laptop's hardware, though there are some minor downgrades and unfortunate omissions compared to the larger version. It doesn't quite match the 13.8-inch's screen, trackpad, ports, or webcam, but it's a very good offering for its lower price. The 13-inch Surface has a 400-nit IPS screen that's 1920 x 1280 resolution and 60Hz. It's sharp and pleasing to look at, and it retains the 3:2 aspect ratio that's so great for productivity, but it's a step down from the 2304 x 1536 and 120Hz of the 13.8-inch Surface. For ports, it's equipped with a pair of USB-C 3.2, one USB-A 3.1, and a 3.5mm combo audio jack. It lacks the magnetic Surface Connect port of the larger models, which means you're reliant on USB-C for power and port expansion. I can forgive that, but the more disappointing omission is Windows Hello face unlock. The 1080p webcam is otherwise sharp and contrasty, but Microsoft opted for Windows Hello biometric unlocking through a fingerprint sensor in the power button instead, likely to save money. But, thankfully, there are a few key areas where the 13-inch excels despite its cost-cutting measures. The four-speaker setup sounds pretty good overall, though once you crank the volume, the low end hollows out. Typing on the Surface is pretty quiet and has just enough tactile feedback to feel nice — I even prefer it to the MacBook Air that it's competing with. But one of my favorite parts is the trackpad. It's mechanical, instead of haptic like its larger counterparts, but I've been shocked by how good it sounds and feels. Each click is crisp and well defined; it has a nice ka-chunk that's pretty satisfying. You can't click anywhere on it like you can on a haptic pad, but if every mechanical trackpad were this good, I'd finally shut up about it. Like last year's 13.8-inch Surface Laptop, the Qualcomm chip sips power and can even get through a 12-hour day of productivity apps (messaging, calls, Google Docs, lots of Chrome tabs, occasional music listening, downloading and uploading files). It also has exceptional standby times, so you can leave it closed and unplugged overnight with minimal battery drain. Even if your laptop stays plugged in most days, it's just so convenient not to worry about battery life when you take it off the charger. As I type this, it's around 5:30PM, and I unplugged the charger at 10AM. I've had a one-hour Zoom video call — always a battery killer — and mixed use between productivity apps and some photo editing in Lightroom Classic (which isn't a native Arm app, so it drains the battery faster). The Surface dipped below 30 percent battery and Windows turned on energy saver mode well over an hour ago, and I haven't had to rush from my spot to plug in. The 8-core Snapdragon X Plus processor performs well for core productivity and work tasks, though it did slow down once for me during some heavy multitasking on battery power. That was so far a one-off. I was on a browser-based Microsoft Teams video call, bouncing in and out of a document to take notes, with over 15 Chrome tabs open and a couple of other apps like Slack and Signal running in the background. It didn't crash, but things slowed down for a moment while the video feed on Teams crapped out. I was able to jumpstart the video again by minimizing the window and restoring it, and things went back to normal. The fan kicks on when you're working it hard like that, but it almost always stays quiet and inoffensive. It would have been nice to see Microsoft go fanless as it did on the new 12-inch Surface Pro. Fortunately, any fan noise is infrequent enough that I often forget it's there, and the chassis never got more than slightly warm to the touch. With two fewer cores than the 13.8-inch and four fewer than its pricier Snapdragon X Elite configurations, the 13-inch is predictably slower at multicore tasks and related synthetic benchmarks. It's still adequate for general purpose needs, but it's not going to do any heavy lifting in creative apps without slowing down. By contrast, an M4 MacBook Air costing just $100 more than the Surface Laptop 13-inch can dabble in content creation apps and actually beats all the Surfaces (even the pricier ones) in many of our tests. It's still hard to beat Apple, but if you're not cross-shopping operating systems that doesn't really matter. System Microsoft Surface Laptop 13-inch / Snapdragon X Plus 8C / 16GB / 512GB Microsoft Surface Laptop 13.8-inch / Snapdragon X Plus 10C / 16GB / 512GB Microsoft Surface Laptop 15-inch / Snapdragon X Elite 12C / 16GB / 512GB MacBook Air 13-inch M4 / 10C / 10C / 16GB / 512GB Geekbench 6 CPU Single 2437 2446 2841 3775 Geekbench 6 CPU Multi 11427 13190 14661 14899 Geekbench 6 GPU (OpenCL) 9391 19993 Not tested 30701 Cinebench 2024 Single 109 108 122 171 Cinebench 2024 Multi 682 808 971 736 PugetBench for Photoshop 4773 5600 6748 10163 Sustained SSD reads (MB/s) 3840.78 3663.1 3656 2910.04 Sustained SSD writes (MB/s) 3476.62 2478.44 2944 2115.57 Blender Classroom test (seconds, lower is better) 486 418 712 (tested before Blender had Arm support) 69 While app compatibility can also be a mixed bag, I'm relieved that it's gotten better since last year. The vast majority of Windows apps work fine on Arm, either natively or through emulation, but there are enough edge cases, especially around photo and video editing, 3D rendering, and music creation, that you still do need to make sure your apps are going to work well before you buy. In my review of the HP OmniBook X, I lamented that the lack of support for Adobe Lightroom Classic forced me to use the standard, mobile-centric Lightroom, which I hate. Lightroom Classic now works via emulation, and it does so quite well. I can edit my 50-megapixel RAW files on the Surface Laptop 13-inch, and it's fast enough for some dip in, dip out sessions. I wouldn't want to edit an elaborate product shoot on a tight deadline or cull and batch-process a full wedding shoot, but it's good to know that I can do some photo editing if I have to. It's still hard to beat Apple, but if you're not cross-shopping operating systems that doesn't really matter. But elsewhere, even within the Adobe Creative Cloud suite, there are still some major omissions. Adobe After Effects, Illustrator, and InDesign have zero support for Windows on Arm — they don't even run emulated. Adobe says on its help page that Arm-supported versions of these apps 'will be released soon,' but there's no estimated timeframe. In other cases, apps run but still leave a bit to be desired. Blender was updated with Windows on Arm support last year, but it still doesn't fully utilize the Snapdragon X's GPU cores, leading to significantly longer rendering times than even a MacBook Air. Windows on Arm seems to be on the right trajectory, but it's going to take much longer to reach full parity with vanilla x86 Windows, especially if you account for games. Game support for the Snapdragon-based Surfaces, as with Macs, is still a crapshoot. The Surface Laptop 13-inch is not a gaming machine, obviously, but plenty of games that work just fine on other Windows laptops with integrated graphics run poorly or not at all. Right now, most popular online shooters, like Fortnite and Valorant, which include anti-cheat software, can't run on Windows on Arm laptops (though Fortnite is coming to Arm eventually). Some of my favorite indies — like Vampire Survivors and Balatro — work, but your best option is to stream games from services like GeForce Now or Xbox Cloud Gaming, though even as a PC Game Pass subscriber, you can't install any Game Pass games locally like you can on x86 PCs. There's an easier path around these obstacles. Microsoft could have just used an Intel Lunar Lake chip in the new Surface Laptop, which would have likely sacrificed some battery efficiency for wide-ranging app and game compatibility. Last year's Surfaces did get that as an option, but Microsoft positioned them as enterprise laptops with higher prices. You can buy them, but only at specialized retailers. Despite Microsoft's ongoing Windows on Arm push, the vast majority of the Windows ecosystem and user base still lives on x86. Since the first Snapdragon X PCs came out last year, Intel Lunar Lake and AMD Strix Point chips have proven x86 still has the juice (for now), and there's a draw to sticking with a proven platform instead of risking potential frustrations with Arm, especially for creative work. Opting for a Lunar Lake laptop like the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i, or a Strix Point one like Asus's Zenbook S 16, avoids the app compatibility issue entirely and gets you better performance in graphical tasks like photo and video editing, at the cost of a few hours of battery life and a few hundred dollars. Though, there are pricier Windows laptops running these chips that totally flub the basics compared to the Surface. At $900, the 13-inch is an exceptional no-nonsense Windows laptop for general productivity stuff, and it looks and feels great. It's right at the price range where laptops start getting really good, without the kinds of compromises that feel like penalty boxes a few years later: slow processors, low-quality screens, bad battery life, or cheap builds. It's much better hardware than some other laptops in its price range, with better battery life, in exchange for small compromises on speed and app compatibility. The 13.8-inch version is still nicer overall, but that one now costs $200 to $300 more thanks to Microsoft's own price and configuration shuffling. Would I buy one for myself? Truthfully, no. I moonlight as a wedding photographer, and while Lightroom Classic works with Windows on Arm now, it's just not fast enough to rely on yet. And my gaming sensibilities lead me to feeling that if I can't play games on a laptop, I might as well switch back to a MacBook. But nearly every downside of the Surface Laptop 13-inch is just a downside of Windows on Arm. If developers keep updating their programs to use the architecture properly, the edge cases get fewer, and the closer the Surface Laptop 13-inch gets to being the easy answer to 'what laptop should I buy?' 2025 Microsoft Surface Laptop 13-inch specs (as reviewed) Display: 13-inch (1920 x 1280) 60Hz touschscreen CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus X1P-42-100 RAM: 16GB LPDDR5X (non-replaceable) Storage: 512GB UFS Webcam: 1080p Connectivity: Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4 Ports: 1x USB-A 3.1, 2x USB-C 3.2, 3.5mm combo audio jack Weight: 2.7 pounds Dimensions: 11.25 x 8.43 x 0.61 Battery: 50Wh Price: $999.99 Photography by Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge Featured Videos From The Verge Why Apple is trying to save Google | The Vergecast Where will Meta, Apple, and Google be three years from now? It's starting to look like they might all be very different. Nilay, David, and The Verge's Richard Lawler start the show with Eddy Cue's testimony in the Google search trial, in which Cue argued that AI is taking over — and that Google should be allowed to keep paying Apple gobs of money. The hosts also chat about the latest in the Meta trials, and how the recent Apple ruling is already changing the App Store. Then, there are some gadgets to talk about: the panopticon-slash-killer-app coming for Meta's smart glasses, the new Surface Pro and Surface Laptop, and a lot of new iPhones. In the lightning round, we do another round of Brendan Carr is a Dummy, then talk about some new Netflix designs and the latest in our worldwide hunt for party speakers.
Digital Trends
6 days ago
- Digital Trends
TCL QM7K review: stunning image quality for an affordable price
TCL QM7K MSRP $1,300.00 Score Details 'The TCL QM7K offers a stunning image for its price point, bringing premium-level picture quality to your living room without costing a small fortune.' Pros Fantastic color accuracy Impressive contrast Excellent brightness Decently wide viewing angle Cons Reflective screen Unimpressive sound 'Why you can trust Digital Trends – We have a 20-year history of testing, reviewing, and rating products, services and apps to help you make a sound buying decision. Find out more about how we test and score products.' Recommended Videos We finally got our hands on the TCL QM7K Mini-LED QLED, winner of our Top Tech of CES 2025 award. Earlier this year we reviewed the QM6K and were impressed with its value and performance, so we're excited to put the QM7K through its paces. TCL continues to impress in the midrange and I'm happy to say, the QM7K did not disappoint. Mini-LED screen technology is making for gorgeous displays with incredible contrast more affordable for the average consumer, and TCL is really showing what the technology can do with this new entry. There's a good chance that this isn't the last model we'll hear about from TCL this year as the company has switched to a staggered release approach for its 2025 models, but for now let's soak in the QM7K and all it has to offer. TCL QM7K specs Sizes 55, 65, 75, 85, 98, and 115 inches Pricing $1,299.99, $1,499.99, $1,999.99, $2,499.99, $4,999.99, and $19,999.99 Display type QD-Mini LED Operating system Google TV Screen resolution 4K Ultra HD (3,840 x 2,160) HDR support Dolby Vision, Dolby Vision Gaming, Dolby Vision IQ, HDR 10+, HDR10, HLG Native refresh rate 144Hz Gaming features Auto Game Mode (ALLM), AMD FreeSync Premium Pro, Game Accelerator 288, VRR (up to 144Hz) Audio support Dolby Atmos, Dolby Digital +, DTS: Virtual X (Passthrough Dolby Atmos, Dolby Digital +, Dolby Digital, PCM) Connectivity 4 HDMI (1x eARC), USB 3.0, USB 2.0, Ethernet (LAN), S/PDIF, ATSC 1.0 Tuner Affordable price means a less premium build The QM7K targets that affordable middle ground between a true budget TV and the premium flagship models of today. It aims to be within reach of most consumers, particularly in the smaller 55- or 65-inch models. So I can't say I was too shocked when I started unboxing and assembling the QM7K that I found its construction to be a little flimsy. The stand that holds the TV is designed as one central piece, as opposed to the individual legs of the QM6K, which makes attaching it to the QM7K a straightforward process. It's brushed to look like metal, but metal it is not. The plastic T-shaped stand weighs about 5 pounds and does its job in holding the 85-inch model we tested for this review. The TV itself weighs only 75 pounds, aided by a frame made almost entirely of plastic. Savings have to come from somewhere to hit these price points, right? The good news is that this makes assembly a lot easier than on far heavier (albeit sturdier) high-end models. The QM7K sways a bit anytime you move it or the furniture it sits on, but it's held securely enough that it's not going anywhere. Decent audio, nothing mind-blowing The audio on the TCL QM7K is billed as having better audio than the QM6K, thanks to a Bang & Olufsen audio upgrade, which TCL says will offer 'more accurate sound quality for an enhanced home theater audio experience.' All in all, the 2.2-speaker system performs about as expected for a mostly affordable model. Which is to say, it didn't sound terrible, but it didn't sound great. The bass response left a lot to be desired, but it's not like I was expecting a 6-inch subwoofer built into the TV. The dialogue could at times sound muddled, blending in a bit too much with a soundtrack or background noise. This really only happened in intense scenes where loud music, dialogue, and sound effects all combined in a cacophony of sound. The QM7K natively supports Dolby Digital and Dolby Digital+ audio, but the built-in speakers aren't doing it justice. Seeing as this model supports Dolby Atmos passthrough, you'd be better off with a Dolby Atmos soundbar, or another dedicated audio system to get the most out of the Dolby audio available on most streaming platforms. Color accurate right out of the box The QM7K features a number of display profiles that users can select from, but for our purposes we're going to focus on Filmmaker Mode, which was first added on the QM6K. This mode is designed for color accuracy, and it was spot-on right out of the box. We tested the QM7K first in SDR while in Filmmaker Mode, and it delivered an impressive color delta E of 0.8. While this fell to near zero post-calibration, that's honestly not even necessary, as the human eye struggles to distinguish a delta E of less than 1.0, making Filmmaker Mode more than sufficient. More than bright enough If you're looking to sear your eyeballs out of your sockets during nighttime viewing, then the QM7K is the right TV for you. TCL advertises a peak brightness of 3,000 nits in HDR for the QM7K, though this varies by size and will vary slightly by panel. In my own testing, I was able to get one 2,400-nit burst in HDR testing in a 10% window with brightness, peak luminance, and dynamic backlighting all turned up to the max. More stable readings in HDR came in around 2,000 nits in peak brightness. Peak brightness measurements in SDR came in at a still very respectable 1,600 nits. If you're wanting to get the best color accuracy and contrast out of your QM7K with minimal clipping and as much uniformity as possible, then you'll likely be watching Filmmaker Mode in its default configuration, which still offers 800 nits with the brightness turned to 100 while keeping those other backlight and luminance settings turned off. My gripe with reflections While the brightness of the QM7K more than delivers, nothing could get away from the fact that the screen itself was pretty reflective. Don't get me wrong, I've seen worse, but if your living room is like mine and has windows opposite the TV, you'll find yourself getting up to close them every time you turn on the TV during the daytime. I'm not even picking on reflections when sunlight is pouring in the windows midday, as this issue persists into the evening when the sun is already starting to set. With brightness settings maxed, the QM7K can handle as bright a room as you can throw at it, but any sort of light source directly in front of the screen from your viewing position will be thrown back at you and remains quite visible even in bright scenes. A superb image overall All in all, the TCL QM7K offers a stunning image for its price point. Without getting too far into the weeds, I'll say that a lot of cool tech—like the condensed micro lens in the backlight system, helping focus and direct the light from each mini LED, and the decreased optical distance, which is the space between the backlight and the LCD—helps create an image with excellent contrast. These technologies also help reduce haloing in HDR, as they lead to less light scatter. The QM7K really goes to show that Mini LED QLED panels are taking the fight to OLED, bringing premium-level picture quality to your living room without costing you a small fortune. Value remains the focus TCL has continued to impress with panel technology and image quality while maintaining approachable pricing. The 85-inch model we tested launched just over two months ago and is already being sold by all major retailers and TCL at about a 30% markdown from its original MSRP of $2,500. Right now, that means you can pick up an 85-inch QM7K for $1,800, and the 55-inch is currently marked down to under $900. Look for these prices to continue dropping as the year goes on, especially as we get into the holiday season. The TCL QM7K is an impressive entry that blurs the line between flagship and mid-range in performance while staying solidly in the realm of mid-range pricing. I'll be eagerly awaiting any TCL launches hopefully still to come this year.
Android Authority
24-05-2025
- Android Authority
My 7 favorite wallpapers I made with Android 16's Magic Portrait
Joe Maring / Android Authority I've been playing with Android 16 QPR1 Beta 1 since it released a few days ago, and so far, I have very few complaints. I love the Material 3 Expressive redesign, the updated quick settings are great, and I'm a big fan of the new look for notifications. But more than any of that, I've been having endless amounts of fun with the Magic Portrait feature. Magic Portrait was a bit of a surprise in the newest Android 16 beta, and it's quickly proving to be one of the best things about it. When you apply a new home screen/lock screen wallpaper, Magic Portrait gives you a handful of new ways to customize it — such as framing it with a fun shape, adding a weather effect, or enabling 3D motion for a cinematic look. I wasn't sure what to think of Magic Portrait when I first read about it, but having now used it for a while, I can't get enough. Here are a few of my favorite wallpapers I've made with Magic Portrait so far. What do you think about Android 16's Magic Portrait feature? 0 votes It looks great! NaN % It's interesting, but it needs more options. NaN % I'm not a fan. NaN % Other (let us know in the comments). NaN % My favorite Magic Portrait wallpapers Joe Maring / Android Authority Magic Portrait has three main effects you can use: shape, weather, and cinematic. You can only use one per wallpaper, and each one works a little better depending on the type of photo you're working with. Shape is the effect I've had the most fun with, as it's especially great for photos where there's a clear subject, such as a person or a pet. This first wallpaper of my cat, Minnie, is a great example. I chose the clover shape for the frame around her with an orange color that has the brightness/saturation slider cranked all the way to the right. I love the way her head is poking out from the frame, and I think the color I chose compliments her nicely, too. Next, to give some love to my sweet boy Damon, I picked a photo of him with an octopus plushie on his head (he really is the best). I wish Magic Portrait had included more of his snout, but overall, it did a great job of cutting out both his face and the entire plushie. Paired with a bright pink color and the six-sided squircle, the end result is almost too adorable. One more shape wallpaper before moving on to something else. This effect also works great with people, as the picture of my partner and me at a recent anniversary dinner shows. The oval shape is the best choice here (it keeps us in the frame while hiding a glass on the table), and I really like the blue color I settled on. That's enough of the shape option. What about the weather one? As expected, this effect works best with outdoor photos, and depending on the image, it can look pretty damn good. With this picture I took of the Eiffel Tower around sunset, the sun effect (turned up as high as it goes) looks incredible. The weather effects slowly fade out once you unlock your phone or keep your lock screen on for a while. So, rather than overpowering your photo, they simply add a nice temporary flair. Next, I found a picture of our friendly neighborhood squirrel who was visiting our bird feeders this past winter to fatten himself up for the season. The snow effect felt appropriate for this picture, and I adore how this one turned out. In addition to the falling snow, there's also a small collection of flakes piling up on the squirrel's fur. It's far too cute. What about the cinematic effect? Admittedly, this is the one I've been the least impressed with, as the 3D effect it adds is either so unnoticeable or distorts your picture in really bizarre ways. But it's not always bad! I added it to this close-up shot of Damon, which works pretty well. The photo also moves a bit as you move your phone around. It's not my favorite effect of the bunch, but it can still be a fun one. Joe Maring / Android Authority Lastly, I want to go back to the weather effect to close us out. While Magic Portrait works best with original photos, there is one wallpaper from Backdrops that's perfect for the weather effect: this one of the iconic Google Weather frog. You can have the weather effect follow your local weather, so if it's sunny, rainy, foggy, etc., where you live, you'll see that translated on your phone. It's a great way to get more of everyone's favorite amphibious meteorologist, and if you have Backdrops, just search for 'Weather Frog' to find this one. How to use Magic Portrait in Android 16 Andy Walker / Android Authority Interested in using Magic Portrait for yourself? First, you need to have a Pixel 6 or later Pixel model. Next, you have to download the Android 16 QPR1 Beta. The beta has proven fairly stable in my experience so far, so if your Pixel is your only phone, you're probably OK to use it. However, there's always some risk involved with any piece of beta software, so your mileage may vary. If you do have a supported Pixel and end up downloading the Android 16 QPR1 Beta, here's how to access Magic Portrait: Press and hold on any blank spot of your home screen. Tap Wallpaper & style. Tap More wallpapers. Tap Choose a photo. Select the photo you want to use as your wallpaper. Tap Effects. From here, you can play with the shape, weather, and cinematic modes discussed above. Once you're happy with your creation, tap the checkmark icon in the upper right corner, tap Next, take one last look at your setup, and then tap Apply. That's it! Magic Portrait doesn't always work perfectly, but even so, it's proven to be a lovely new addition to Android. If you're rocking the Android 16 QPR1 Beta (or plan to get it soon), be sure to give Magic Portrait a look.
Android Authority
23-05-2025
- Business
- Android Authority
NotebookLM is my favorite AI tool, but wow, its Android version is bad!
Andy Walker / Android Authority There are a few AI tools that I find genuinely useful, and NotebookLM is absolutely one of them. If you're unfamiliar with Google's unsung AI hero, consider it similar to ChatGPT, except you control which sources it draws information from. It's a brilliant concept that I've used in numerous ways since its debut several years ago. It's helped me comb through insurance quotes, compare legalese-infected medical plans, and it has even become my quick-reference car manual. However, for all its positives, its biggest loss was its lack of an Android app. Sure, this was an annoying reality, but it didn't hinder the NotebookLM experience for me. I used workarounds to access it from my phone reliably, but I believed an official app would presumably have its advantages. Surely, it would be better integrated with other Google products, allow me to view all of what NotebookLM offers on the web, and make people aware of its existence. All good things, right? So, when Google teased and then launched the NotebookLM Android app earlier this month, I was expecting big things. Well, I'm now upset that I let my hopes up. What do you think about the NotebookLM app? 0 votes I like it. NaN % It's usable, but I wish it was better. NaN % It's terrible, and I'll keep using the web version. NaN % I've not yet tried NotebookLM in any capacity. NaN % Forget the Android app, stick to the web interface for now Andy Walker / Android Authority To give the NotebookLM Android app its due, it's functional. Animations are smooth, menus are logically placed, and it's a reasonably attractive environment. I can quickly switch between Google accounts to access my notebooks, add sources from my phone, and even create Audio Overviews as you would on the full-fat web experience. However, these are the bare minimum expectations for an app published by Google. When I use NotebookLM's web interface on my phone via a Chrome shortcut (my preferred workaround, although there are others), I can access every single one of the product's free features. Nothing is left out. The app, however, has some glaring omissions. Google puts the AI smarts of NotebookLM at the forefront of its app experience. Google puts the AI smarts of NotebookLM at the forefront of its app experience. You're just one tap away from creating an Audio Overview for any notebook on your account. Look, I think Audio Overviews is a pretty cool feature, and I would've loved to have it as a study tool in college. It presents two AI podcast hosts in an eerily realistic and natural conversation about the core topic included in your notebook. The Interactive feature is also perfect for mobile, allowing me to converse with the two hosts and ask questions. But while it's all very smart, this feature isn't why I use NotebookLM. I wouldn't have an issue with Google pushing these features to the surface if it didn't neglect NotebookLM's more practical facets. For instance, I rely on its note creation section. As I mentioned earlier, I keep a notebook with all my car-related information, including its user manual, brochure, and any documents that may be related to it somehow. But I also use the Add note feature within the Studio tab to include details I want to remember. The Studio tab on Chrome on my Pixel. The Studio tab on the app on my Pixel. Say I hit the curb recently, hear a rattle from the transmission, am planning a road trip and require a particular item of maintenance, or filled up at a specific gas station. I may want to recall those details, so I'll record those in a note (or notes) and convert them into a source. However, the app completely lacks this functionality. Yes, it has a Studio tab, but my notes are nowhere to be found. I wouldn't have an issue with Google pushing these features if it didn't neglect NotebookLM's more practical facets, like notes. Note-taking is a common feature on modern smartphone apps, and I'd expect a Google app released in 2025 to offer it. Given the lack of space on a smartphone screen, I can understand why the Mind map feature wasn't included, but Google has no excuse for omitting notes from NotebookLM. The Sources options on the app. The broader sources options on the web. The Discover sources feature not on the app. The Discover sources feature not on the app. The NotebookLM app also makes content discovery far more tedious, as it lacks the handy Discover option. Click this button on the web, and it'll open up a box letting you submit queries on a given topic. The tool then finds related sources on the web, which you can add to existing or new notebooks. It even had an I'm feeling curious option if you decided that today you'd learn about something out of your immediate scope. Unfortunately, the app misses out here, too. This would be a great complementary feature to Audio Overviews, so its disappearance is truly puzzling. The Android app lacks the source discovery feature, which makes creating topical Audio Overviews easier and more fun. As for Audio Overviews, the feature's processing time feels far slower on the mobile app than via the web interface. It spent a good ten minutes converting a Wikipedia page about user interface design into a podcast on the app, and less than five on a far chunkier, jargon-filled car manual when prompted on my desktop. The former produced a 15-minute audio file, while the latter extended to 35 minutes. Why is the app so much slower? I have other visual pet peeves that are perhaps borderline pedantic, but they don't really affect the app's functionality. Others have highlighted the inability to switch languages, which polyglots use daily on multiple other Google apps. It's a timid start, but NotebookLM on Android has plenty of room to grow Andy Walker / Android Authority You can probably tell that I'm really disappointed by the NotebookLM app. I was ready to finally ditch my silly Chrome shortcut workaround for a sleek, modern app with all the bells and whistles of the full experience. Instead, I found an app that only included the flashiest features to draw the eye (and ear). Look, at least the only way is up from here, right? I do hope there's a technical reason notes were left out of the Studio tab and that Google's planning to integrate its source discovery feature at some point in the future. But considering an even more flamboyant feature in Video Overviews is about to land on the web experience, I fear that it may land on the app sooner than the practical features it so dearly needs.
