Winners and Losers: Another week in tech delivers the goods, with Alexa standing out. However it hasn’t been sunshine and rainbows for some of tech’s biggest names. Here are this week’s winners and losers.
Starting with Apple, we got our first look at iOS 18.4 and a clearer picture of why the iPhone 16e has better battery life – and it’s not just because of that new modem. We also got whispers of a first-of-its-kind Apple product set to arrive in 2026.
An unmissable Pixel 8a offer
The Pixel 8a is now a bargain handset for anyone looking to upgrade. You just have to add a £10 rolling SIM to get the discounted price, but that SIM can be cancelled immediately afterwards to avoid any further costs.
- Voxi
- Was £499
- Now just £327.60
Moving onto Google, the company was finally able to bring its headline live-saving feature to the US with Loss of Pusle Detection approved by the FDA. There was also indications Google Gemini might become part of iOS in the next couple of months while Apple continues to sort its shi…. Siri out.
For Samsung fans it was a mixed bag. The Galaxy S25 Edge might arrive earlier than expected, the One UI 7 update might be later than expected. Ironically, they may arrive around the same time! We also got word Samsung’s tri-fold device will have a unique design arriving this summer.
There was good news for Android fans overall with Google and Qualcomm aligning for up to eight years of Android OS and security updates. There was also great news for workers everywhere this week when Slack went down for a few hours. Sweet, sweet respite.
Winner: Amazon’s Alexa Plus
Amazon Alexa is finally growing up! With emphasis on the finally. Amazon announced Alexa Plus this week, which will bring generative AI capabilities to the voice assistant that’s been around since the first Echo speaker arrived in 2014.
The new assistant, which will be free to Prime subscribers, will be smarter, more conversational and will have greater understanding of context for multiple sequential requests.
Seeing as Amazon Alexa already lives in hundreds of millions of homes around the world, the adoption of these new features should feel more natural. It doesn’t require users to download and learn a new app, or set up an account, and in the case of most Echo owners, it’ll work on the device they already own.
So, for example, the ability to make requests without the advance knowledge you’d usually need, like a song title or a TV show. For example, Amazon said you’ll be able to ask “’what’s that movie where Bradley Cooper sings a duet? Jump to that scene…’ and it will play on your Fire TV”.
The new assistant will also interact with external services, like Uber, help you book tickets to sporting events, and find someone who can come and fix your oven.
The smart home experience is getting a big upgrade with voice-created Routines that don’t require the Alexa app. Furthermore, you can perform tasks like sending Alexa Plus a recipe and ask her to remind you how many tablespoons of olive oil it requires.
Loser: OnePlus’ spellchecker
We feel a bit bad about giving OnePlus the award this week, especially in a world where Elon Musk continues to exist. Maybe we should change this column to W&L&Cs to ensure his contributions are properly recognised every week?
Anyway, poor OnePlus admitted an embarrassing error this week when it revealed it was delaying further shipments of its otherwise brilliant OnePlus Watch 3 due to a typo.
The rear casing says the watch is ‘Meda in China’ – which could happen to the best of us and happens to me every day. The company is saying users can return the watch ‘no questions asked’ or they can keep hold of it own a super limited edition model with the typo in tact.
I can’t imagine many folks will be sending the watch back. Our reviewer loved it and currently rates it the device to beat when it comes to Wear OS watches.
