Perhaps you’ve heard: we’re bringing back our weekly “from the editor’s desk” column! It was convenient timing for Daniel to write his first (in a long time) column and then promptly leave on vacation, but I’m certain he’s having a wonderful time and I’m here to pick up right where he left off. Truth be told, we’re likely to rotate this slot around from week to week so everyone has a chance to hear from more of the AC editorial staff on a regular basis.
Kicking things off on a personal note, I’ve quite enjoyed unplugging from technology recently. I made the realization a few weeks back that I’d severely fallen behind on my podcast and YouTube subscriptions. Multiple times I went days without looking at Twitter or Facebook (Instagram, though, stuck around). I was no longer diving into Google News multiple times a day to see what was happening in the world.
In the past couple of months my phone’s spent more time on silent, face-down on a table, or in the other room than it ever has. And you know what? To nobody’s surprise, I felt better having done so. And my phone’s battery lasted a whole lot longer when it was basically only being used to listen to YouTube Music, send messages and take photos. Perhaps now that I’m 30 I’ve embraced being “old” in a new way.
Unlike Daniel I don’t have something as huge as a new child in my life to pull me away, but I have plenty going on to keep me busy and focused on things other than what’s happening on my phone. And it’s been a well-timed break from constantly staring at these little pocket computers: it’s decidedly a “slow” season, by typical Android standards. We’re well out of the early spring launch season, and the OnePlus 7 Pro and Google Pixel 3a demand plenty of attention but are plenty manageable with our excellent AC team covering everything top to bottom.
But the slowness won’t last long. Over on the Windows Central side of things, E3 is happening in LA this week — be sure to follow Jez Corden and Matt Brown for their excellent analysis. iMore just wrapped up looking at insanely expensive hardware at WWDC, all while Rene’s YouTube channel smoothly surpassed 100,000 subscribers! I’m sorry to see that MrMobile and I disagree considerably on the Pixel 3a — but I look forward to our debate over a beer when I see him in a couple weeks.
As for AC, we’re already planning for the IFA trade show in Berlin, which starts the first week of September. And before we even get there, we expect to see the Galaxy Note 10 and Note 10 Pro in early August if Samsung follows last year’s release window. The leaks are coming thick and fast, and the phone’s shaping up to be interesting (huge and feature-packed), and controversial (no headphone jack?!). Listen to the latest AC podcast for our Note 10 hot takes. Then we’ll be right in the depths of Google Pixel 4 launch craziness, which always ends up coming with a pile of other Google hardware announcements.
So much for the “slow” season, right? We’re jumping right back into the thick of things.
-Andrew
