Technologies

Google’s Pixel Fold Can Save Foldable Phones From Obscurity

Commentary: Foldable phones are fine, but Google’s folding Pixel could make them great. Here’s how.

Back in 2021 I wrote that foldable phones were disappointing, offering little in the way of genuine innovation when it comes to how we use our phones on a daily basis. They’re perfectly fine. But once you get over the novelty of a screen that bends, they’re really just the same as any other Android phone, which is a problem. With less common sizes and aspect ratios being used, apps and games don’t natively run properly. Also, the audience is small, and developers don’t have the motivation to put in the time, effort and cost to develop their apps for odd shapes and sizes.

But Google might change that soon enough, with a rumored foldable Pixel phone that could appear at Google I/O in May. The company is in a unique spot to address software concerns while creating compelling phone hardware that doesn’t break the bank.

To be clear, I do like foldable phones. I particularly like the larger «book fold» models like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Honor Magic Vs, which transform from a regular-sized phone into an almost tablet-sized device, providing more screen space for videos, games and documents. I remember when I got the first-generation Galaxy Fold and felt genuinely excited at seeing the screen bend in the middle. And I remember the various strangers who would stop and ask to see it when I used it in public — with one bartender so entranced that he returned the favor with a free beer. Score.

But the software is still where folding phones lag behind. Android is designed primarily for regular candybar smartphones, which are commonly around 6 inches to 6.8 inches in size and have standard aspect ratios like 16:9. In other words, phones like the Galaxy S23 Ultra or Pixel 7 Pro take full advantage of Android, and app developers design their apps for these same form factors. Why? Because they’re the most commonly used sizes, and therefore their apps will be optimized for the widest number of devices.

Android 12L and 13 address some of the sizing issues, but not all apps are optimized and either leave too much blank screen space or must stretch awkwardly to fit the screen. The Galaxy Z Fold 4, for example, has a tall and narrow 23.1:9 aspect ratio on the outside and a more square 21.6:18 aspect for the inner display — two nonstandard sizes that developers need to account for. And that’s just one device.

Huawei Mate X foldable phone — Huawei’s outward-folding Mate X was one of the earlier folding phones we saw.

Andrew Lanxon/CNET

It’s the same Android fragmentation issue that has plagued the platform since the beginning: Too many different devices means it’s difficult for developers to create for. Apple’s strategy of having fewer display sizes and almost identical aspect ratios has meant it’s typically been the easier platform for developers to work on. But Google has worked hard over the years to make Android an easier field on which to play, and it could do the same for foldables.

So could a folding Pixel phone be just another device for developers to struggle with? Perhaps not. If Google is committed to folding screen technology in its product lineup, then it’s safe to assume that we will see some key updates in Android that are specifically tailored to folding phones and different form factors. I’d like to see software that does a better job of automatically resizing apps, dual-screening when using a large display like the Z Fold 4’s or building more tricks into default apps that take advantage of inner and outer displays.

yt-z-flip-3-review-1 — The tall and narrow dimensions of the Galaxy Z Flip present another dilemma for developers.

Patrick Holland/CNET

Moreover, Google will likely work more closely with its key developer partners like Samsung, helping them not only optimize their existing apps for folding devices, but also create entirely new ones that can only be done with phones of this type. These partnerships will be crucial to helping Google create a compelling first-generation foldable, especially since non-folding Pixel phones account for just over 2% of smartphone market share in the US, according to analytics firm StatCounter. By comparison, Samsung has almost 30% share in the US.

Pixel phones tend to offer an excellent Android experience packaged in good hardware that costs hundreds less than flagship iPhone or Galaxy S phones. Google partnerships will be key to getting a Pixel foldable off the ground at an affordable price. A cheaper price is essential to getting a larger audience that would incentivize developers to create more fold-centric apps.

Of course, there are a lot of «ifs» and «coulds,» and we don’t know for sure if Google will launch a foldable. We also don’t know whether Google has a strategy in place to encourage adoption by working with software developers. Google will also have to rely on more than just its recognizable name to catapult the category into the big leagues. Let’s not forget that Microsoft’s Surface Duo 2 isn’t exactly ubiquitous, and neither is Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold.

But I’m remaining hopeful, if only because I need to be. Standard smartphones have become increasingly dull and repetitive. For someone who writes about phones for a living, that’s a problem. Foldables present an opportunity to do things in a different and more exciting way, but it will be up to Google whether or not the category flourishes.

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Google Pixel 7 Pro with lighting in background and foreground

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Technologies

Google, Meta and Amazon Join Global Pact to Fight Rising Online Scams

The companies will share fraud intelligence and coordinate responses as AI makes scams faster, cheaper and harder to detect.

Modern online scams operate across multiple platforms, perhaps spanning social media, messaging apps, email and online marketplaces. Google, Meta and Amazon are among 11 tech, retail and payments companies that have signed a new agreement to combat online scams by sharing threat intelligence across platforms, Axios first reported Monday.

The initiative, called the Industry Accord Against Online Scams & Fraud, is designed to improve how companies detect and respond to fraud that spans multiple services. Participants say they will exchange signals, such as scam-linked accounts and fraudulent domains, and coordinate enforcement actions.

By sharing intelligence in near real time, companies hope to identify these scams earlier and stop them before they spread.

The effort reflects how modern scams operate. A victim might encounter a fake celebrity investment ad on social media, move to a messaging app where the scammer builds trust, then faces prompts to send money through a fraudulent website, payment app or crypto wallet — spanning multiple companies’ ecosystems.

Google said it now blocks hundreds of millions of scam-related results every day using AI, underscoring how both attackers and defenders are increasingly relying on the same technology. Meta removed more than 159 million scam ads in 2025 and is expanding AI tools to detect impersonation and warn users.

Online scams are growing rapidly, in part because generative AI has lowered the barrier to entry. AI can be used not only to produce realistic phishing emails but also to clone voices and deepfake videos that impersonate executives, public figures and even family members.

The agreement is voluntary and doesn’t create new legal obligations, but it comes after regulators’ increased pressure on tech platforms to address fraud more aggressively. The companies say they will begin building frameworks for reporting and intelligence-sharing, though it’s not yet clear how quickly those systems will be deployed or how effective they will be in practice.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Wednesday, March 18

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for March 18.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? I thought it was a fairly easy one, but read on for all the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Word before «card,» flood» or «photography»
Answer: FLASH

6A clue: Joust weapon
Answer: LANCE

7A clue: Brain, heart or lungs
Answer: ORGAN

8A clue: «Frozen» reindeer
Answer: SVEN

9A clue: What can be found on frozen roads or frozen margaritas
Answer: SALT

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Follow a dentist’s recommendation
Answer: FLOSS

2D clue: Baby bug
Answer: LARVA

3D clue: Shape made in the snow
Answer: ANGEL

4D clue: Very little
Answer: SCANT

5D clue: Egg layer
Answer: HEN

Technologies

Amazon Speeds Up Delivery Even More With 1- and 3-Hour Options

The retailer says the one-hour option is available in hundreds of cities, with discounted shipping for Prime members.

Same-day delivery apparently isn’t fast enough for some Amazon shoppers. The retail giant said on Tuesday it’s adding new shipping options that will get products to front doors within a one- or three-hour window.

The company said in its announcement that the one-hour option is available in hundreds of cities across the US, while the three-hour option is now live in more than 2,000 areas. Amazon’s web page at amazon.com/getitfast shows whether those options are available to shoppers for their location. More than 90,000 products will be available for those shipping windows, the company said.

For those who can’t get those services (including the author of this post, who lives between Austin and San Antonio in Texas), a message will display: «3-hour delivery is currently unavailable. Check back at a later time or shop products with Same-Day delivery below.»

Pricing for the faster delivery options is not cheap: It’ll cost you $20 for one-hour delivery and $15 for three-hour delivery for those without an Amazon Prime account, or $10 and $5 for customers who subscribe to Prime.

Last year, the company rolled out faster Amazon delivery options to 4,000 additional areas.

In a video of the podcast Learn and Be Curious with Doug Herrington, hosted by Amazon’s CEO of worldwide stores, Kandace Kapps, the director of the company’s same-day strategy team, spoke in more detail about the challenges of fast shipping. Kapps discussed shifts in customer buying habits over the last few years, such as more people buying household essentials like toilet paper on Amazon.

She said that Amazon can deliver so quickly by placing same-day delivery hubs close to customers in metro areas and by getting products ready to ship within 15 minutes, aided by warehouse robots.

«I think customers are going to continue to get magically surprised by how fast we can deliver to their doorstop,» Kapps said.

Herrington said fast shipping increases sales: «When we speed up the service, the probability that somebody buys a product from us goes up.»

Other retailers, including Walmart, have been adding same-day delivery options or exploring other ways to speed up shipping times to compete with Amazon.

Removing buyers’ moments of hesitation

Part of Amazon’s strategy, which has involved a massive buildout of locations, deployment of thousands of trucks, deals with other delivery services and investment in logistics software, is actually pretty simple: being there when people need last-minute items or make impulse buys.

«It’s about removing the last moment where you would’ve reconsidered the purchase,» said Stephanie Carls, retail insights expert at coupon and promotional-code website RetailMeNot, a sibling site of CNET. «It changes how you shop, not just how fast you get things.»

Carls said that Amazon’s super-fast delivery is removing the timeframe when people might change their minds about a purchase.

«There used to be a gap between deciding to buy something and actually having it. That’s when you’d price check, rethink it, or decide you didn’t need it after all,» she said. «This closes that gap.»

The retail expert said that competitors, including Walmart and Target, have been speeding up delivery times in some markets. Still, they’re not matching Amazon’s scale or product range at those speeds or levels of consistency.

«And that’s what starts to make everyone else feel slow,» Carls said. «Amazon’s advantage is how tightly connected its technology, inventory and delivery networks are, which makes this level of speed more repeatable.»