Googlebooks are Google's latest attempt to carve out a piece of the premium laptop market, and tight integration with Android phones is a key part of that effort. Now that Googlebooks are available, we're learning of some frustrating limitations of that plan. For now, Googlebooks will only play nicely with your phone if you have a Pixel.

When Google announced the launch window for Googlebooks, it said the laptops were "engineered to work with your Android phone right out of the box." But as with many things Google, the truth is more convoluted. We have since learned that you need Android 17 for any of the nifty integrations to work. With a compatible Android 17 phone, you can seamlessly stream apps to your laptop, access files on your phone, mirror notifications, and continue where you left off in certain apps when switching from phone to laptop.

You might think that the latest Samsung phones, which shipped with Android 17, would be ready for this experience. You'd be wrong, though. Some early Googlebook adopters have complained that phones like the Z Fold 8 won't work with the laptops. While the devices appear to see each other, the phone doesn't stay connected. Google representatives have since confirmed that these "Better Together" features are not currently supported on even the latest Samsung phones. An update that brings support to Samsung phones will roll out in "the coming weeks."

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Googlebooks are here. The first models went on sale Sunday, October 4th, and we received review units of all five Googlebooks about 24 hours ago. Since then, we've been in a mad dash to put the devices through their paces and get a check on what it's like to use these Android laptops.

At first glance, Googlebooks feel very Chromebook-ish, and at times a little janky. But Google has some great new ideas afoot on how a laptop and phone interact. You can already link your phone to a Windows laptop to sync your notifications and mirror your whole iPhone on macOS. But Googlebooks allow you to take actions on your phone from your laptop in a way …

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Following more images of the previously leaked Google Fitbit Edge surfacing a few days ago, new details about the upcoming fitness tracker have been revealed, including potential features and pricing. The Fitbit Edge will reportedly sell for €179 in Europe, and £159 in the UK, according to leaked details shared by Dealabs. Given the €99/£85 pricing of the $99 screen-free Fitbit Air in those regions, 9to5Google estimates the new Fitbit Edge will cost around $180 in the US.

The Fitbit Edge will feature a 1.34-inch always-on OLED touchscreen and will run Fitbit OS with access to Google Play. It will connect to Android and iOS devices over Blue …

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Google has waited until the day its new Googlebook laptops hit the market to admit that Intel-based models may have issues running some Android apps.

Before now, Google has emphasized that the Android-based Googlebooks give owners access to the "entire Play Store library" of apps, along with some clever interactions with Android phones and tablets. Today, in a statement to Android Authority, it admitted that while every app is available, some may not offer smooth performance on every Googlebook.

The vast majority of Android apps run smoothly across both Intel and Qualcomm Googlebooks right out of the box. Because many Android apps were o …

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Guided Vision is launching in Gemini Live on compatible Android devices today to use AI to give real-time audio descriptions of anything you point your phone's camera at. By sharing your camera in Gemini Live, you can have Google's AI help with things like reading small text, describing your surroundings, finding or identifying objects around you, and describing details on specific objects.

Like the VoiceOver Live Recognition feature Apple has added to the iPhone and Vision Pro, it's designed for people who are blind, have low vision, or want assistance in specific situations. In addition to the Gemini app, Guided Vision is also available …

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Android Central, a blog focused on the Android ecosystem, laid off its staff yesterday, but owner Future confirms to The Verge that the site will continue publishing.

Yesterday, four of the six staffers on Android Central's staff page posted publicly about the layoffs, including Shruti Shekar, Derrek Lee, Harish Jonnalagadda, and Nicholas Sutrich, and former senior editor Namerah Saud Fatmi updated her LinkedIn to indicate that her tenure at Android Central had ended. Both Lee, the site's managing editor, and Sutrich confirmed that all remaining staff were laid off.

The former staffers weren't told whether the site would shut down. Today, …

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In late 2010, an up-and-coming Google executive named Sundar Pichai took the stage in front of a bunch of reporters and explained that Google had a big new idea about laptops. In the future, he said, the only thing you'd need on your computer was a web browser - that was where all your apps, data, and connections would live going forward. Your computer didn't need much storage, Pichai explained, or any fancy hardware, because the cloud would do the work. The software designed for these new laptops, Chrome OS, was an enormous bet that the web would eventually overtake everything.

Chrome OS (which eventually became ChromeOS) has been, in many …

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There are a few things about using a Googlebook that immediately feel just right. The hardware is polished (since it's based on current laptops). The OS is familiar (if you've ever used a Chromebook). But most impressive, it integrates your Android phone with your PC so they feel more like one device. It's the culmination of a series of new ideas that blur the two devices together. After my first look, I went from doubtful to excited by the prospect of Google pulling it all off.

After an initial barebones announcement in May, Google is finally launching Googlebooks - its new line of Android-based laptops. The initial five Googlebook models …

Read the full story at The Verge.