Google’s AI overviews is now generating phone comparisons, which is a truly bad idea - Related to truly, some, but, eye-tracking, this

Google’s AI overviews is now generating phone comparisons, which is a truly bad idea

As one would expect, the information Google bases its results on comes from sites like Android Authority.

Google doing this makes it less likely that we’ll make this kind of content, and then where will AI Overviews get its information?

When you’re looking for the best smartphone you can get at the moment, one of the natural questions you’ll ask yourself is, “How does [new phone] compare to [my current phone]?” Usually, you’ll go to Google and ask that very question. When you do, you’ll find a long list of digital publications, YouTube videos, and even podcast episodes going over the nuances between Phone A and Phone B. This has been one of the core ways many tech outlets — including Android Authority — keep the lights on.

Today, though, via Search Engine Land, we learned that Google is rolling out AI-generated phone comparisons right in Google Search. Now, when you search for something like “galaxy s24 vs galaxy s23,” the AI Overviews system will create a comparison list for those two devices, giving you the core information you need to know about how each stacks against the other.

You can see what this new system looks like by visiting Google yourself or checking out the screenshot below:

Since Google is trying to be transparent about where generative AI pulls its information from, you can see a list of 21 different reports that helped to create the table above. You’ll undoubtedly recognize many of them, including Tom’s Guide, PCMag, Phone Arena, and more.

While this new system seems convenient for the user, it is actually a terrible idea.

AI Overviews phone comparisons: Why this is bad for us, Google, and you If you’ll allow me to, I’m going to get a little inside baseball with you for a second. Most people visiting Android Authority understand that your visit earns us revenue, whether through ad impressions, affiliate linking, or other typical methods. In a nutshell, you hanging out on our pages earns us money. Historically, “versus” content — such as an article going over the Samsung Galaxy S24 vs the Samsung Galaxy S23 — has been one of the best ways for us to earn revenue. The content is not complicated to create, has long-lasting value, and one phone can spawn off many different articles (Galaxy S24 vs Galaxy S22, Galaxy S24 vs Galaxy S23 FE, Galaxy S24 vs Pixel 9, and on and on). This is why Google’s AI Overviews system is able to pull data from so many publications: the whole industry is making this kind of content because it’s a money-maker.

With this new phone comparison system in AI Overviews, though, Google is making it less likely that people will visit outlets like Android Authority to get this information. Obviously, this hurts our bottom line and the bottom lines of other outlets like ours. That’s why this is bad for us, but stay with me; this gets bad for Google and for you, too.

Given enough time, Google's system will kill off the creation of this kind of content. Where will AI Overviews get it when that happens?

If Google sticks with having AI-generated summaries of versus content appear right in Search, that kind of content will make less money. Thus, the outlets that create that content will stop prioritizing it — or stop making it altogether. Now, instead of pulling information from 21 outlets, AI Overviews will pull it from fewer data. Given enough time, this becomes a vicious cycle, until the AI Overviews results are thin on information or even downright wrong. Even today, the results you see in the screenshot above are dubious (the Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S23 have the same exact rear camera system, so why does it say the S24 has a 12MP camera and the Galaxy S23 has a 50MP camera?).

Finally, now you — the person who simply wants to know what’s superior about the Galaxy S24 when compared to the Galaxy S23 — will have a more challenging time finding that information. AI Overviews isn’t giving you what you need, and all the outlets that previously made versus content don’t do it anymore.

In a nutshell, in the long term, everyone loses.

I understand entirely that generative AI is changing things. Here at Android Authority, we have been and will continue to alter our strategies in response to AI systems. So please don’t think that I’m boo-hooing about how this change hurts us, and now I want sympathy. Things change, and we need to change with them, which is just part of the business. However, the way Google has made this system is bad. It’s definitely bad for us, but in the long term, it’s also bad for everyone else, including Google. Hopefully, the business figures that out sooner rather than later.

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As you might have guessed from the title, I’ve spent the past month with a phone that uses eye-tracking for everyday interactions.

I spent a month with this eye-tracking phone. Here's what I found

As you might have guessed from the title, I’ve spent the past month with a phone that uses eye-tracking for everyday interactions.

However, before we go any further, let's quickly go through the history of eye tracking on phones, a technology as old as the Galaxy S4.

A brief (really brief) history of eye tracking.

Eye-tracking technology dates all the way back to 1879, when Louis Émile Javal invented special eye-tracking spectacles to see how people read newspapers and books, but for the sake of keeping this on topic, we'll focus on smartphones.

The Galaxy S4 had a simple eye-tracking system that could scroll the content on your phone's screen depending on the tilt of your head and your gaze. Tilt down and look at the bottom of the screen, and the page starts to scroll upwards, and vice versa.

Honor Magic series assistive eye-gaze control.

I stumbled upon this feature for the first time during a closed pre-brief of the Honor Magic 5 Pro. The technology was so impressive that it got me intrigued. Honor even made a little PR stunt last year, letting journalists control a car via the same eye tracking tech.

So how does it work? You first calibrate the system by gazing at points that pop up in different places on the screen.

Then, each time a notification is shown on the screen, you can look at it, and it will expand. If you hold your gaze over it for a bit more, the phone will open the corresponding app. It sounds simple, and it is, in fact, but it's also pretty helpful.

There are specific use cases where this tech is pretty useful. Let's say you're driving, and your phone is on a car mount for navigation. When a notification pops up, you can just quickly glance over it without taking your hands off the wheel, and it will expand to show you if it's anything significant.

When I'm working and don't want to be distracted, I can gaze to expand and open notifications without touching my phone. This is helpful for me, as the moment I take my phone and start tapping on the screen, my mojo is gone.

I admit that these are pretty niche applications, but I can't wait to get the full functionality where you can scroll, blink to open and close apps, go back, and generally control more things without touching your phone. The eye-tracking accuracy is already very good, even with the phone a bit further away from you, so it's quite impressive already.

Your iPhone and Android phone have eye tracking too.

The tech-savvy among you are probably typing comments about how eye tracking is already inside every phone out there. That's true to some extent. Eye tracking was introduced as an accessibility option with the iPhone XS, and you can find it on every iPhone ever since.

The same goes for Android; you can enable Switch Access inside accessibility options (most The same goes for Android; you can enable Switch Access inside accessibility options (most Android phones have this, but on some, such as Galaxy phones, you need to install the free Switch Access app).

How to enable and use eye tracking on your iPhone.

Go to Settings > Accessibility > Eye Tracking, then turn on Eye Tracking. Follow the onscreen instructions to calibrate Eye Tracking. As a dot appears in different locations around the screen, follow it with your eyes. After you turn on and calibrate Eye Tracking, an onscreen pointer follows the movement of your eyes. When you’re looking at an item on the screen, an outline appears around the item. When you hold your gaze steady at a location on the screen, the dwell pointer appears where you’re looking, and the dwell timer begins (the dwell pointer circle starts to fill). When the dwell timer finishes, an action—tap, by default—is performed.

How to enable and use eye tracking on your Android phone.

Go to Settings > Accessibility > Switch Access (on Samsung phones, you need to install this) > Use Switch Access Follow the prompt to grant the system the permissions it needs to operate. Tap “Settings” and then “Camera Switch Settings” and flip the toggle next to “Use Camera Switches” You can now use gestures such as "open mouth," "raise eyebrows," "look left," etc.

The tricky part here is that you need to activate these accessibility settings every time, either by swiping with two fingers from the bottom of the screen or by holding the volume buttons for a certain amount of time. This kind of defeats the purpose of controlling your phone without touching it, but for people with disabilities (whom this feature is actually designed for), the additional action is not that cumbersome.

This eye-tracking navigation is buried deep inside the accessibility settings on both iPhone and Android devices. Honor, however, has a different approach as it has decided to give eye tracking the center stage in its Magic OS.

Personally, I think eye-tracking has way more potential than voice control. Talking is rather inefficient as a way to interface with an electronic device, and you can say what you will, but after a hard day at work, the last thing I want is to give voice commands to a gadget. Personally, I think eye-tracking has way more potential than voice control. Talking is rather inefficient as a way to interface with an electronic device, and you can say what you will, but after a hard day at work, the last thing I want is to give voice commands to a gadget.

It might be just me, but I think that using your eyes to control things is a logical evolution of the touch interface. If done right, it can save a lot of time and keep smudges off your screen as well. Not to mention the cool factor of making a gadget do things WITH YOUR GAZE. Obey me, tiny silicon slave!

Have you ever tried eye tracking on your phone? Is it just a gimmick, or could it be a game-changer? Leave your comments down below. Have you ever tried eye tracking on your phone? Is it just a gimmick, or could it be a game-changer? Leave your comments down below.

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Zenfone 12 Ultra is good but missing some of that Asus magic

Asus is trying to steal some of the press away from Samsung this year by launching its Zenfone 12 Ultra before the Galaxy S25 series sales date. Well, at least in places outside Canada – the Taiwanese corporation won’t release its latest flagship in the North. However, despite the lack of availability, I couldn’t say no when Asus asked me if I wanted to take a quick look at the Zenfone 12 Ultra.

In my opinion—and I swear it has nothing to do with nationality— Asus has replaced its Taiwanese brethren, HTC. The corporation puts out interesting devices that typically don’t match what the competitors are doing, which could be to their detriment; however, its handsets normally fill a niche, showcasing something interesting and unique. The Zenfone 5Z had an iPhone-like notch and a gleaming back panel. The Zenfone 6 and 7 had flip-up cameras, allowing you to use the rear camera setup as selfie cameras (still some of the best selfies you could ask for). The Zenfone 10 had a small body and giant cameras, making the handset stand out among other devices. The Zenfone 11’s Semantic Search was pretty useful. While AI is quickly becoming overused by all manufacturers, the Zenfone 11 was the first device I used with this feature, allowing people to swiftly find different settings on their handset by using natural language.

Unfortunately, while the Zenfone 12 Ultra is definitely a solid device, it lacks the pizzazz that I’m used to seeing from Asus handsets. Maybe it’s my fault for getting excited, but when my Asus rep sent the review guide, I waited until I had the phone to look at it. I did this specifically because I wanted to be surprised—it’s why I don’t watch movie trailers, as I find that they have too many spoilers – however, after finally looking, I realized there was nothing to be excited about.

The Zenfone 12 Ultra has flagship specs: a Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, up to 16GB of RAM (still waiting for this from Samsung), up to 512GB of storage, a [website] FHD+ flexible AMOLED LTPO dynamic refresh rate panel capable of peaking at 144Hz when gaming, a triple camera setup with a 50-megapixel primary shooter and a 5,500mAh battery (again, Samsung, let’s get a bigger battery). The Zenfone 12 Ultra has various AI attributes like AI Portrait Video, AI tracking, AI Unblur, Circle to Search, AI Article and Document summaries.

These are some reasonable specs, but unfortunately, nothing here outshines any of the other handsets on the market. And there isn’t anything that is all that unique either – probably the most interesting thing is still a handset with a headphone jack, but that’s not even unique to the Zenfone 12 Ultra.

I was hoping for something that would help the Zenfone stand out among the sea of other smartphones, but consumers purchasing the Zenfone 12 Ultra might have to settle for a solid device with an elegant design.

I haven’t spoken much about the Zenfone 12 Ultra’s design yet, but I think it’s the best part of the handset. The front of the handset offers that typical Android large screen, selfie camera and slim bezels. On the side, we see a 100 percent recycled aluminum metallic green frame that looks stunning on the ‘Sage Green,’ smartphone. On the right side, the Zenfone 12 Ultra sports a power button and a volume rocker, and on the bottom, there’s a [website] headphone jack, speaker grills, SIM slot, and a USB-C port. The smartphone’s rear also sports a fingerprint-proof panel with the subtle branding of the ‘Asus Zenfone,’ it feels incredibly slick, like porcelain. I like that it’s smooth and feels so nice to hold. Lastly, the camera bump is unique and framed by a metallic look similar to what’s on the handset’s sides. It’s pretty, and other smartphones don’t have a camera setup like this, there’s something about it that makes it look like a professional shooter.

The Zenfone 12 Ultra weighs 220g, heavier than I’d expect. The handset is heavier than the S25 Ultra and the OnePlus 13, the most recent devices I’ve reviewed, so it’s pretty noticeable. The handset’s [website] FHD+ panel looks good, but it’s not the best display on the market. It is solid, nonetheless, and I can’t honestly tell the difference between FHD+ and QHD+ on these small screens. However, I like a 120Hz refresh rate panel as it can make scrolling and gaming buttery smooth.

Powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite, the Zenfone 12 Ultra makes ordinary tasks look easy. It can quickly complete a regular day of usage without any slowdowns or problems. A regular day of usage includes scrolling through Instagram, watching videos on YouTube, reading and writing an article or two, and listening to music on Spotify. I also had no problem playing Blasphemous for over thirty minutes straight on the handset without the device warming up.

Benchmark-wise, the ZF12 Ultra performs very well, even enhanced than the S25 Ultra and pretty much the same as the ROG Phone 9. This includes a single-core score of 3,136 and a multi-core score of 10,036, which are pretty impressive scores. The S25 Ultra with the same Snapdragon 8 Elite offers a single-core score of 2,101 and a multi-core score of 8,100. Benchmarks don’t always equate to real-world performance, but they definitely don’t hurt.

The Zenfone 12 Ultra also has a large 5,500mAh battery that can last more than a day. With 65W wired charging, the device can charge quickly. During my short time with the device, there wasn’t a day where I was worried about needing to charge the smartphone, but I don’t believe I used the handset enough to say how good the battery power was. However, if you grab the ZF12 Ultra, you shouldn’t be too worried.

The Zenfone 12 Ultra also has various AI functions, including AI Article Summary, AI Documentary Summary, Semantic Search and more. It’s worth mentioning that most smartphones coming out this year offer similar functions. I found the AI Article Summary a bit buggy; it takes a long time to summarize a three-hundred-word article, and the process of doing it is kind of odd. You select all, which will highlight the whole text in an article, and then, in the same menu where you ‘select all,’ AI Article Summary is also available. Then, it’ll bring you to a different app that summarizes your article. Google’s Circle to Search is also available, which lets you circle different parts of your screen and perform a quick Google Search for what you’re looking at.

The Zenfone 12 Ultra takes okay photos, but they look unsaturated and overexposed. Still, they’re decent. The handset sports AI functionalities like ‘AI Magic Fill’ and ‘AI Unblur,’ but I didn’t use these much when looking at the device. ‘AI Magic FIll’ removes unwanted people or objects from photos, and Unblur does as the name says.

Look below at some photos I took with the Zenfone 12 Ultra.

The Asus Zenfone 12 Ultra is a good phone; it performs well, offers AI capabilities, sports a decent trio of cameras, and has an elegant design. The handset’s design is stellar, and it is definitely my favourite aspect. Its camera sensor looks pretty lovely, too. However, the smartphone doesn’t offer anything too special, which is unfortunate for a flagship Android and prevents it from standing out among the other manufacturers on the market.

The Zenfone 12 Ultra isn’t coming to Canada, but it’s good to see what’s on the market, and it helps put other phones into perspective. For instance, the Zenfone 12 Ultra’s battery seems superior than the S25 Ultra, which is essential to note when discussing the S25 Ultra’s power source.

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