⚡ Welcome to The Weekly Authority, the Android Authority e-newsletter that breaks down the highest Android and tech information from the week. The 209th version right here, with our Galaxy Z Flip 4 overview, a brand new Google foldable patent, Apple’s Far Out occasion, and an upcoming Days Gone film — plus rather more.

👻 This week I’m off to the Edinburgh Competition to see (or ought to that be hear?) three of Darkfield‘s immersive exhibits, Eulogy, Flight, and Seance — and I’m not going to lie, I’m fairly scared but in addition excited!

Social media:

• Did you get spammed by the Fb bug that crammed customers’ feeds with countless posts from superstar accounts?
• Creepy: TikTok’s monitoring your keystrokes — The corporate’s in-app browser may very well be monitoring your exercise on outdoors web sites and will even seize your bank card data or passwords.
• Twitter safety is a large mess, in line with whistleblower Peiter “Mudge” Zatko, who’s simply been fired as Twitter’s head of safety and wrote a report outlining a complete host of points, together with that “greater than half of Twitter workers had direct entry to the service’s stay code and knowledge.”
• Elon Musk subpoenas Jack Dorsey as he prepares for October 17 trial — the subpoena “seeks data associated to false or spam accounts and details about how Twitter stories on spam accounts.”

Elsewhere:

• A $1,200 cellphone was the most well-liked Android cellphone in North America in Q2 2022.
• A shock Fitbit launch on Wednesday noticed Fitbit launch three new wearables: the Fitbit 2, Versa 4, and Encourage 3 are all obtainable for pre-order now.
• And Sony introduced a September 1 occasion, hinting at a compact gadget, which might imply the Xperia 5 IV is coming.
• The post-Leica Huawei Mate 50 sequence is formally launching subsequent month, virtually two years after the Mate 40 line.
• This week additionally noticed the launch of the DJI Avata hybrid racing drone that’s straightforward to fly and presents a enjoyable expertise.
• Now even Redmi Notice telephones could skip the bundled charger: Isn’t any cellphone line secure?
• Leak reveals Bose’s upcoming QuietComfort Earbuds II: they give the impression of being considerably extra compact.
• And this cool rugged Chromebook prototype is fabricated from recycled supplies — it’s no slouch in relation to efficiency both.
• Elsewhere, T-Cellular is bringing Starlink satellite tv for pc protection to customers, with a beta program anticipated by the top of subsequent yr — however there’s an enormous catch.
• Tesla is upping the worth of its Full Self-Driving function to $15,000 in North America, up from an already lofty $12,000.
• Talking of, Tesla needs movies of its automobiles working over child-sized dummies taken down, alleges they’re defamatory.
• And UK drivers might not be responsible for accidents when their automobile is self-driving later this decade. As an alternative, producers will take the autumn.
• Additionally: Knowledge privateness invoice would provide you with extra management over data collected about you and pressure corporations to vary how they deal with knowledge.
• Lastly this week: DuckDuckGo now presents its anti-tracking e-mail service to everybody, and provides new options, too.

• Over 10 million tuned in for the Home of the Dragon premier, however simply how a lot are you aware about Sport of Thrones? We’ve additionally bought some exhibits like Home of the Dragon you’ll get pleasure from.
• Talking of fantasy, we noticed a new LOTR: The Rings of Energy trailer, and we’re excited — we additionally requested which you’re extra enthusiastic about, Home of the Dragon or The Rings of Energy…
• We bought a tantalizing 20-second glimpse of HBO’s The Final of Us adaptation, exhibiting Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey as Joel and Ellie.
• Talking of variations, Sony’s reportedly making a Days Gone film, which can seem to be a wierd alternative, however is probably going all the way down to the sport’s newfound success on PC.
• And Umbrella Academy creator Steve Blackman’s adapting Horizon Zero Daybreak for Netflix.
• Excellent news: Netflix’s ad-supported tier won’t play commercials throughout newer unique films, probably children’ content material too.
• In the meantime, a new Google TV replace improves velocity and storage, lastly.
• It’s been every week for safety breaches: It’s best to change your Plex password now because the service introduced a possible knowledge breach, and on Friday, LastPass additionally confirmed a breach, although the corporate mentioned consumer knowledge and grasp passwords weren’t compromised.
• Cineworld, the quantity two movie show chain on the planet, is getting ready to file for chapter.
• And the revamped MoviePass is making its comeback on Labor Day, launching a brand new beta service accessible by invite solely — the service has already partnered with 1 / 4 of US theaters, with pricing starting from $10 to $30 per 30 days.
• A new film based mostly on the rise and fall of BlackBerry not too long ago wrapped manufacturing. Sure, actually.

• Gamescom kicked off Tuesday evening, and we’ve already seen Sony’s new customizable PS5 controller, the DualSense Edge, new footage for Hogwarts Legacy, The Callisto Protocol, and extra, a Sonic Frontiers launch date (November 8), and an official Useless Island 2 announcement — plus the announcement of open-world survival MMO Dune Awakening, Deck 13’s fantasy motion RPG Atlas Fallen, New Tales from the Borderlands (coming in October), and far. rather more.
• We additionally noticed the reveal trailer for Future 2 Lightfall on the sport’s showcase, which you’ll compensate for right here.
• Talking of Useless Island 2, you’ll apparently have the ability to use Amazon Alexa to distract zombies and set off in-game actions.
• And we heard from former Bethesda Video games Studio developer Jeff Gardiner, who unveiled new studio, One thing Depraved Video games. It’s making a model new occult RPG known as Wyrdsong, which seems, properly, bizarre (however nice).
• Now you can play Dying Stranding on PC Sport Go, however Sony says it wasn’t concerned with the PC launch.
• PlayStation’s been hit by a $5.9 billion lawsuit for ‘ripping folks off’ on digital video games —the argument is the corporate shouldn’t be utilizing its “near-monopoly” on the sale of digital video games to implement greater costs, just like the 30% fee charge charged within the UK PlayStation Retailer.
• Sony additionally confirmed PS VR2 is coming to market “in early 2023.”
• The PS5 simply bought a value hike in Canada, Europe, and extra areas — however US shoppers aren’t affected, for now.
• And whereas we’re on the Sony topic, listed below are seven stuff you (most likely) didn’t know your PS5 might do.
• Google Play Video games opened its beta to let extra Android customers play video games on PC.
• In the meantime, Valve launched a brand new beta that utterly revamps the Steam cell app, with a UI and framework overhaul plus a number of new options.
• Unfavourable opinions of the brand new Saints Row sport are flooding in, with VGC calling it “generic” and IGN saying it’s “extra like a repetitive retread than a correct reboot,” although there are constructive takes on it on the market too.
• Lastly this week: Zuckerberg confirms new Meta VR headset is arriving in October. And Meta accounts and Horizon profiles arrived on Tuesday, so that you not want a Fb login to your Quest.

I’m nonetheless surrounded by transferring packing containers, so I believed for this week’s version of the Weekly Surprise, I’d take a look at some tech-related issues that may assist along with your transfer.

Final week my colleague C. Scott Brown wrote about transferring home, and the way he realized that saving tech product packing containers was ineffective.

• I have to admit to being responsible of hoarding tech product packing containers myself, with a “by no means know when it could be wanted” mentality.
• Nevertheless, they’re undoubtedly an additional factor to type and pack amongst a mountain of stuff, and in the end I noticed that the smaller I can get that mountain, the much less traumatic my transfer will probably be.
• I’ve binned about 90% of my tech packing containers, retaining only a couple for bigger gadgets which are nonetheless in guarantee, however they double as packaging for transferring the gadgets, so I determine that works.

We requested you in case you stored your tech product packing containers, and it seems only a few of you truly throw all of your packing containers away, with the bulk (45.2%) saying they solely threw out a few of their packing containers. Nearly as a lot of you (44.5%) stored all of your tech packing containers, with simply 10.3% of polled readers saying they threw all their packing containers out — and that’s most likely a good selection in case you’re battling restricted cupboard space.

Transferring along with your good house tech

There’s a lot to consider when transferring house, like migrating your good house tech, in addition to contemplating house safety to your new place.

• Good doorbells, thermostats, locks, and out of doors safety cameras — in addition to different hard-mounted merchandise — can all be cumbersome when transferring, so it could make extra sense to depart them behind.
• It’s typically simpler to spend money on a brand new wi-fi safety digicam, good video doorbell, or window coverings like good blinds or shades reasonably than taking your present good house tech with you, although that may be prohibitive given the seemingly countless value of transferring.

Fortunately, that’s not a difficulty for my transfer — I’m relocating from an older property that doesn’t even have electrical lighting in all of the rooms, not to mention any good house tech setup.

One factor I’m undoubtedly conscious of by way of all this, although, is the significance of getting sufficient sleep to fight the stress of transferring. Sleep tracker apps are actually useful right here, as are meditation apps — Calm has been serving to me keep sane, however there are many different good selections on the market.

Tech Calendar

• Now till August 28: Gamescom
• September 1: OnePlus 10T pre-orders open (US)
• September 1 @ 3 AM ET: Sony Xperia launch occasion (Xperia 5 IV?)
• September 2-6: IFA Berlin
• September 6: Huawei Mate 50 sequence launch
• September 7 @ 10 AM PT (1 PM ET, 7 PM CET): Apple’s Far Out occasion
• September 10 @ 9 PM CEST: Ubisoft Ahead showcase
• September 29: OnePlus 10T on sale
• October 6: Pixel 7 launch? (TBC)
• October 13: Pixel 7 on sale? (TBC)
• November 8: Cranium and Bones launch date on Xbox Sequence S/X, PS5, PC, Stadia, and Luna
• November 9: God of Struggle: Ragnarok launches on PS4, PS5
• November 18: The Darkish Footage: The Satan in Me launches on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Sequence S/X, and PC

Paula Beaton, Copy Editor.