Weekly Gear News: Chrome OS will merge with Android and Sony and be surprised with new cameras

Presumed exist. Rumors are said. Already hoped. According to an interview with Techradar, this is happening. Same Samat, president of the Android ecosystem, said Google plans to merge Chrome OS and Android into a “single platform.”

Google differentiates its mobile and tablet operating systems from laptop platforms. There have been a lot of crossovers over the years – the biggest being the launch of Android apps on Chromebooks in 2016 – but they have been coexisting. But with Samat’s new statement, changes are underway.

In the interview, Samat also followed up on Julian Chokkattu, who was at Google I/O’s Wired, this year, hinting at a future Google laptop, noting: “He’s interested in how people use laptops these days.” The last Google laptop was the 2019 PixelBook GO, which came after the 2017 bad-loss Pixel Slate. If Google does plan to merge a new platform, it will have to use flagship Google hardware. –Luke Larsen

Pixels on the road

In other Google news, the company has set a date for its Google Event, and is expected to debut on the Pixel 10 series smartphones, a new Pixel watch and new wireless earbuds. The keynote was held in Brooklyn, New York on August 20 and began at 1 p.m. ET (Pacific). It will live as usual.

Google used to hold a big hardware event in October, but last year changed things, giving the Pixel launch date ahead of the iPhone and more room to breathe before the holiday shopping season. The highlight of this year’s release (than the highlight of the pixel tags marked 10 years) is that due to issues at Samsung Foundry, there are rumors that Google is turning to the TSMC chip tensor G5 chipset.

Sony is surprised with new camera

Provided by Sony

Sony dropped a new full camera from the blue RX1R III. The RX1R series was the last update nine years ago. Why now? If I had to guess, I would say that this has a lot to do with the success of compact fixed lens cameras, such as the Leica Q series, the Fujifilm X100 series, and the Fujifilm GFX100RF. Sorry, you have to wait for nearly 10 years of RX1 fans, but being late is better than not.

What have you gained from a 10-year development cycle? It turns out… not that much. In terms of image functionality, the RX1R III is almost a repackaged A7R V. There is the same 61-megapixel full-frame sensor paired with the A7R V’s Bionz XR image processor and dedicated AI chip. This is a major upgrade to the camera relative to the last model in the series, but there is no brand new technology here.

Design changes are more interesting. The RX1R III abandoned the RX1R II’s pop-up electronic viewfinder for a rear viewfinder, which looks a bit like Sony’s high-resolution travel camera, the A7RC. This is fixed, just like the first RX1R. The best upgrade here is probably the RX1R III using Sony’s larger battery NP-FW50, which will significantly improve battery life.

One thing that hasn’t changed at all since its launch in 2012 is the built-in Zeiss Sonnar T* 35mm F/2 lens. The biggest question here is how does this over a decade-old lens work with the latest, best autofocus? We’ll let you know later this year when we start using the comment unit. –Scott Gilbertson

Omega’s Summer Season

Provided by Omega

Omega this week abandoned its brilliant Seamaster Diver 300m bright summer version on its February copper gold and Burgundy watch. While yes, it wasn’t groundbreaking in the original work of last year, it hits all the right notes, thanks largely to how strong the first iteration in November was. However, the model has an advantage over its siblings.

The aluminum bezels and stylish mesh bracelets are still there, but you will look closely and you will see subtle changes, with the most pleasant ones being the corrugated pattern on the dial being replaced by flat matte textured black. For orange lovers, be aware of the few seconds of the lollipop and get the pop of color on the indexes of 12, 3, 6 and 9. The ultimate boom is the matching orange “Seamaster” dial.