Android 📱

There is nothing inherently wrong with Samsung's base-level flagship smartphones of the year—the Galaxy S26 ($900) and Galaxy S26+ ($1,100). I have now spent several weeks with both handsets, and they're dutiful performers, just not very exciting.

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Your iPhone is so much more than just a screen for texting. Smartphones are how we get work done, stay on top of the crazy news cycle, rock out, keep in touch with friends and family, and capture life’s most important moments. Carrying all of that information in our pockets is incredibly powerful, and it makes getting through our days a little easier. It also means that your most important data can get lost when you forget your phone on the train or have an unfortunate spat with the sidewalk.

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When technology reporter Alex Heath has a scoop, he sits down at his computer and speaks into a microphone. He’s not talking to a human colleague—Heath went independent on Substack last year—he’s talking to Claude. Using the AI-powered voice-to-text service Wispr Flow, Heath transmits his ideas to an AI agent, then lets it write his first draft.

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OpenAI is starting to stuff the free version of ChatGPT with ads. So, I spent this week asking ChatGPT 500 questions on the mobile app to get a sense of how these new ads look as they roll out to more users in the US. My questions were loosely based on how OpenAI says people use its generative AI tool, like for seeking information or requesting practical guidance.

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