Ben Schoon is a Senior Editor at NewGeekGuide, working for the publication as one of its primary news writers since 2016.
In 2013, Ben helped start an independent tech publication where he learned the skills used at NewGeekGuide including writing, product photography, and videography. He is located in the city of Winston-Salem in North Carolina where he lives with his wife Melissa. Ben is an avid disc golf player.
He primarily covers Android products, including Google Pixel devices, Samsung Galaxy smartphones, as well as devices from OnePlus, Oppo, Motorola, and more. Beyond just covering news about these products, Ben also spends time using these products himself, speaking from experience with the articles he writes. Some of Ben’s most recent hands-on reviews include; Pixel 8 Pro, Pixel Watch 2, Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5, Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, Motorola Razr+, HP Dragonfly Pro Chromebook, and more.
Ben is also a leading source for information about Google’s Android TV, diving deeply into important parts of the platform including its powerful Operator Tier, explaining future changes to the platform, and reviewing its products such as Chromecast with Google TV, Nvidia Shield TV, and more.
In 2019, Ben leaked one of the first in-person photos of the Pixel 4 before later revealing the Recorder and Pixel Themes apps months ahead of launch. In 2020, Ben also reported on multiple upcoming Pixel devices including Pixel 5a and the first report of Google working on a foldable Pixel smartphone. That same month, he was also the first to correctly report the $49 price point of what became the Chromecast with Google TV.
Ben Schoon is active on Twitter, @nexusben, but can also be found on Instagram and LinkedIn. For questions or tips, you can email him directly, and his portfolio is also available online.
Email: schoon@9to5mac.com | Encrypted Email: benschoon@protonmail.com
Disney has announced plans that set the stage for the standalone Hulu going away, with the service instead being “fully” integrated into Disney+ both in the US and globally.
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Essential Space is a key feature of the latest Nothing Phone models and, while it certainly still has room to grow, it’s rapidly improving on its feature set. In its latest update, Essential Space now allows Nothing Phone owners to share audio recordings and “memories.”
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According to a new report, a portion of the new devices Google will be launching later this month won’t actually arrive in the hands of customers until October, including Pixel Watch 4 and Pixel 10 Pro Fold.
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While we expected Samsung’s One UI 8 update, based on Android 16, to start rolling out to older Galaxy devices sometime this month, the company has just confirmed that won’t happen until September, but the beta is expanding today.
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We’ve already seen pretty much all there is to see about the Pixel 10 series, but now a new pair of leaks are more clearly showing of the base Pixel 10 and the Pixel 10 Pro, and offering a pretty clear picture of what’s glossy and what’s matte on these devices.
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New findings reveal that Samsung’s upcoming One UI 8.5 update for Galaxy devices will likely make it easier to use gesture navigation on a new device, something Samsung is years behind the rest of the Android industry on.
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NewPipe is an open-source YouTube app for Android and, now, it has Android Auto support.
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Samsung’s Galaxy S25 FE has already been confirmed to see an earlier release date and, now, leaks may have revealed that date right as another leak shows off Samsung’s pretty slick new colors.
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Samsung’s Galaxy S26 is reportedly making a hardware change to the benefit of mobile payments, with a second NFC antenna reportedly being added to the top of the device.
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As we near the launch of Pixel 10, I’m getting some déjà vu with Google’s new devices, as the company has been pushing forward with its flagship phones for the betterment of the entire Android ecosystem, rather than just its own benefit. Sound familiar?
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Google has, seemingly by mistake, posted its “Moonstone” Pixel Buds Pro 2 early on its store, while also revealing that the “Wintergreen” color is going away.
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Following its loss in court against Epic Games, Google has just a few weeks to make some absolutely massive changes to the Play Store – and in effect, Android as a whole – despite the company’s goal to appeal the court’s decision.
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Back in 2021, Microsoft announced Windows 11 SE as a lightweight platform to rival Google’s ChromeOS, but now, the company is pulling the plug on the offshoot.
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A new leak reveals that Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy S25 FE will be pretty familiar on the whole, but with a weird shuffle in its battery and charging specs.
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Following years of Google being the dominant player in search, the company is finally seeing some challengers arise in the age of AI. As a part of that, Microsoft’s Bing is actually gaining some traction, with recent numbers revealing that Bing has grown over the past two years while Google is slightly shrinking.
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Spotify recently introduced a “Create” button along its bottom navigation bar, but it’s really not that helpful. Thankfully, Spotify has fixed this in a new update that lets you turn the “Create” button off.
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Adding “Reddit” to your Google search has been a common tactic in recent years and, unsurprisingly, Reddit knows this and is now making a push to be an actual search engine instead of just a search engine hack.
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While rumors are still up in the air regarding a battery upgrade for the Galaxy S26 Ultra, new information has come out on the base Galaxy S26 “Pro” as well as the Galaxy S26 Edge, with both devices set to pack bigger batteries.
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The trial of Epic Games vs Google has been dragging on for years now, with the latest court case ending with the 2023 verdict not being overturned and, according to Tim Sweeney, the Epic Games Store on its way to the Google Play Store.
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Google is rolling out a new Android Auto update that delivers full support for Material You color accents based on your phone’s wallpaper, building on previous updates.
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Google is addressing a longtime sore point of its Nest cameras with recent updates to the Google Home app which, apparently, will reduce how often users run into “no video available” errors.
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In its latest earnings call, Samsung is once again teasing the arrival of its Galaxy Z TriFold and “Project Moohan” Android XR headset devices which are both still set to launch later this year.
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Samsung is touting a smash hit debut for its Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Flip 7, with the company’s foldables making a splash in the US market with up to 50% increase in initial sales, and some broken records too.
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The Pixel Watch 4 seems like your run-of-the-mill smartwatch update, but it’s also introducing the third new charging system in Google’s mere four generations of smartwatch. The new Pixel Watch 4 charger looks just fine, but I’m pretty worried about the charging pins that we’ve yet to see.
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