Android 12 Beta 3, OnePlus Nord 2 oddities, Steam Deck, more

OnePlus North 2: The OnePlus Nord 2 launch next week was teased when the company posted on its forums that it is pairing the Mediatek Dimensity 1200-powered device with a 50 MP Sony IMX766 main camera sensor with OIS, which improves the Nord 1’s camera play, though the pictures! Speaking of pictures, OnePlus also shared an odd sci-fi drawing of Nord 2 (pictured above) detailing the back design and color of the upcoming phone and helpful confirming that previously leaked renderings were correct. Kind of fun that OnePlus is getting weird?

Android12: Android 12 Beta 3 has now landed, offering native scrollable screenshots (finally!), On-device search, face-based auto-rotation, and better privacy indicators. It also tweaks things that people were complaining about in the previous beta modes, which is exactly what caused the beta rollout. The stable version should be available in late August or early September.

Steam deck: Valve announced its handheld PC gaming device called the Steam Deck, which will be available in December and will start at $ 399. It’s a real debate starter: is it like the Switch, or are comparisons just completely wrong given the differences? Should we be happy that this is already a lot cheaper than other niche options on the market? Should you buy this, or a PS5 or Xbox Series X? Or just play Xbox games on that flexibility? There is much, much more to come here. Is this the start of a new platform?

Xiaomi wins: According to an analyst firm, Xiaomi will become the second largest smartphone OEM as it apparently seemed to be taking what Huawei has lost. Global ranking among the top three: Samsung (19%), Xiaomi (17%), Apple (14%). Apple’s number may look bad, but it is said to have 20% more iPhones orders to be made this year. So everything is fine in Cupertino in case you are concerned …

Netflix games: The Netflix of Games could really just be Netflix. The company announced that it has hired Facebook Vice President Mike Verdu to lead its gaming division. However, what it will be, what it might cost (if anything else), how it will all work is unknown Bloomberg Reports suggested a new genre on the streaming service, as did documentaries or comedy specials. Definitely don’t expect much for at least 12 months or so.

Windows 365: Microsoft has discontinued Windows 365, a cloud-based operating system that can run on virtually anything, which means streaming Windows is almost there. Later in the week we saw the pricing: $ 31 per user per month for business users, starting August 2nd, with other tiers later. Microsoft recommends that you run Windows 365 on Windows, which can seem strange. The idea is that you might have a seedy old corporate computer, but you can run a more powerful computer from your old computer, which can save you on asset purchases, etc. Will that prevail?

Space Race: And of course, Sir Richard Branson made a trip aboard his company’s VSS Unity rocket plane this week and reached an altitude of 85 km, or approximately 53 miles. Cynicism abounds, especially about Branson’s rental home kitchen (Indy100)but hey: that’s why Richard Branson’s flight is really important, why is it really important (Ars-Technica). Jeffrey Bezos will fly Blue Origin on July 20th.