Audio, sim racing gear, desks, chairs... Consider this home base for your entire setup or workplace interests. Look around and discover more about what you love.
Audio, sim racing gear, desks, chairs... Consider this home base for your entire setup or workplace interests. Look around and discover more about what you love.
This collection reminded me of when I was still in college. All my roommates had their own headphones put on when we were reviewing for the upcoming tests. Those were good times. I wonder how the owner of this collection would use all these headphones.
Just like you say, it is about bringing the right stuff and enhancing the experience. As an Apple enthusiast, I love the MacBook Air 2019 and much as it is said to have strong sound, it only parks USB-C ports. I also love its sleek design.
Android just dropped the dessert names and stuck to plain numerical nomenclature for their latest OS update. So, this year’s version of Android is officially called Android 10. It’s probably
It remains as an option, not a mandatory thing that you have to get used to immediately. You can switch back to the three-button software key layout or the previous iteration of the pill-based gesture navigation.
Android, this time, looks to put all the best features from other UIs and implemented them on their own. From the Wi-Fi QR code sharing from MiUI, gesture controls from iOS, and chat head support from Facebook, it’s become a powerful congruence of features that aims to be the best of both worlds. Will it be successful in doing this? Only time will tell.
For now, though, all we can do is try to make sense of the new feature in the grand scheme of things.
Gesture Control Takes Over
If you were a fan of the gesture controls Pie introduced to the Android ecosystem, you’re in for a treat. Android 10 just made it even more immersive.
The first thing you’ll notice is that the navigation pill at the bottom of the home screen has shrunk. It’s now become a simple line at the bottom of the screen. This gives you even more screen real estate to work with.
For the gestures themselves, a lot remains the same as the ones introduced in Android Pie. Using the navigation line, you can quickly swipe up to go to straight to the home screen from any application, swipe up and hold a third of the way to access the multitasking view, and swipe up from the home screen to access the app drawer.
As for the changes, you can swipe the navigation line to quickly move through open applications. It's a neat trick that can be useful if you tend to use multiple apps at once. Previously, you'd have to access the multitasking view to do this, therefore, it took quite a bit of time.
The back button is simply replaced with a simple swipe from any of the right or left edges of the screen. It successfully eliminates the back asymmetric back button giving the whole Android experience a cleaner, more polished feel. This, however, might interfere with the slide-out menu that a lot of apps implement on their UI design. The only workaround at this point is to just use the right edge instead of the left.
Another interesting addition to the gesture control Google Assistant access. If you have the new gesture navigation activated, you can access Google’s A.I. by swiping from the bottom corner towards the middle of the screen. Previously, you had to press a physical button or, in the case of the Pixels, physically squeeze the phone to use Google Assistant. Perhaps this is an indication that they're trying to limit the number of physical buttons for the next phones that Google is going to design and manufacture.
Native Chat Head Bubble Support for Some of Google’s Communication Apps
The chat head bubble is a feature that a lot of Facebook users like. It makes replying to messages easy enough to do even when they’re immersed in another app.
Google is taking a page directly out of Facebook’s playbook by adding the chat head bubbles to its phone and messaging app. This means you don’t have to use the reply function on the notifications bar anymore just to be able to access your conversations.
Wi-Fi Sharing Will be Breeze
Here’s another new native feature that Android seems to have pulled out of another company’s playbook - Wi-Fi QR code sharing. It’s been in use in MiUI for a long time now and it looks like Google is making the feature its own in Android 10.
This means that you no longer need to share your embarrassing Wi-Fi hotspot password to anyone who needs it. Just share a QR code with your friends, let them take a photo and they’re instantly connected to your hotspot. This feature should also apply to your Wi-Fi modem’s passwords.
Improved Privacy and Location Settings
One hot button issue in smartphone tech is privacy. Apple claims supremacy in this department. But, of course, Google will not let itself fall too much behind. Therefore, they’re improving their privacy settings this time around.
Permission Manager is now accessible right at the Privacy section. It's no longer buried in various other menus within the privacy settings. This lets you see which apps have access to which information on your phone. It also lets you revoke and grant permissions to whatever app you wish.
It's like a one-stop-shop for everything related to your privacy.
To this end, Android 10 is also instituting iOS-like location permission setting right at the notification screen. You can set the location services to turn on only when you're using a particular app. Or, if you wish, you can always leave it on for a particular app. This helps not only privacy nuts feel a little bit more comfortable, but it also helps save battery.
Live Caption for Making Videos More Accessible (And for People Who Like Watching Videos on Mute)
Android 10 is coming with the new Live Caption feature. It natively transcribes audio from videos so a deaf person can understand what’s being said.
What's cool about it is that you don't even need to be connected to the internet to use it. You just have to play a video, press the volume button and the option will present itself below the volume slider.
It’s a useful feature that greatly increases the OS’s viability for people who have difficulties hearing. Or generally, for people who just like watching videos on mute.
The Most Polished Version of Android Yet
Android 10 doesn't introduce game-changing features. Most of what that they’re trying to implement with this version has been done before in other operating systems. Some of them have already been in business in different Android-based OS versions. What this update does is get all of them together to make a more polished experience.
If you have a Google Pixel, you’re probably already rocking the newest Android version. To the rest of the Android world, though, it’s still a mystery. How will it be implemented on Samsung’s One UI or MiUI?
If this is true, would it be worth it to upgrade to the 11? I don't know if foldable phones will happen in the near future, but could it be that the 11 is the last of the current generation of iPhone designs and Apple is going to steer in a whole new direction?
More things are leaking about the next event from Apple. But as I am reading through what is set to be presented, I can't help but wonder if Apple is overwhelming the consumer with all the options? I think releasing a new phone model every year is already quite a big deal, and it is great (IF the new model comes with something innovative), but at this point they keep releasing 3 new models with different specs, and then they're presenting the Watch and some other things. I feel like this makes things harder on the consumer, not easier.
Let’s be honest, last year’s iPhones XS and XS Max didn’t perform quite as well as the Cupertino giant expected. This is evident in how they slashed orders for OLED screens that were primarily for the XS and XS Max. It was such an unexpected occurrence that Apple seemed to get caught with their pants down. But more than just an embarrassment, they might even have to pay hefty fines because over the sudden decrease in orders. In short, it wasn’t a decision that they made without much debate amongst themselves. The change of tune in earnings calls also point in this direction. Suddenly, there were no longer unit sales for each model. They opt, instead, for just one big chunk of the Apple earnings pie for all iPhones that they’re still currently selling. The rest of the pieces was for the other products that they were selling such as their laptops.
The XR, on the other hand, was a resounding success. From third-party reports, it accounts for 38% of total iPhone sales in 2018. It has been the bestselling iPhone since it debuted. It’s significantly larger compared to the measly 21% for both iPhone XS and XS Max flagships. The rest is made up of the older models specifically the iPhones 8 and 7.
It can be posited that the XR may have cannibalized some of the demand for the pricier iPhones XS and XS Max. It’s too difficult to justify the more than $250 difference between the XS series and the $750 iPhone XR. Especially because the cheaper phone can do almost everything that the more expensive iPhones can do.
But almost an entire year has passed, and this means another set of iPhones can be released. For Apple, this could spell a chance for retribution.
Apple seems to have a chip on their shoulders from last year’s batch of phones. Naturally, the hype around this year’s release seems to be a lot more than usual. Will the success of the iPhone 11 be able to do what the XS and XS Max weren't able to do? All we can do is wait… In the meantime, we can speculate.
Same as Last Year, Three Different Offerings
Consistent with last year’s line-up, the new iPhones are rumoured to be arriving in three different screen sizes. According to pundits, there’s still going to be a 5.8-inch, 6.1-inch, and 6.5-inch iPhones. The 6.1-inch variant should, like last year, be the cheapest of all the options.
What they’ll be called is still a mystery. Apple has dropped the numbering scheme that they used since they skipped the iPhone 9 for the iPhone X in 2017. In the spirit of cleaning up their nomenclature, we’re guessing that Apple will call their phones the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max. The iPhone 11, we speculate, would be the iPhone XR successor. iPhone 11 Pro should be the new XS and the iPhone 11 Pro Max could be the upgraded iPhone XS Max.
Pricing is expected to be the same as that is one of the more contentious issues that plagued last year’s model. It wouldn’t really make sense to bump up the pricing by too much. The iPhone 11R should, again, be the cheapest option this year.
Triple-Camera Setup for the iPhone 11 Pros, Dual for the Entry-Level iPhone 11
Let's start with the most obvious. According to case makers, there will be a huge rectangular cut-out at the back of the new devices. This should be accurate because Apple must send them the schematics of the new iPhones for cases to be available upon release.
It’s perhaps safe to assume that the increase in real estate at the back would house additional lenses and sensors. This would potentially make the phones a more versatile camera. Whether the iPhone 11 would have the same number of lenses as its more expensive brothers is still an unknown. Leaks suggest that it’s going to have 2 which is one less than the iPhone 11 Pros. This is consistent with last year’s models. The lower lens count is one of the ways that Apple tried to cut costs for the XR last year and this strategy should remain the same this year.
The lens combination for the iPhones 11 Pros should be versatile. This could mean that they’ll come with zoom, ultrawide, and wide-angle lenses. In typical Apple fashion, they should be on par with the best in the market when it comes to photos.
A.I. should also play a huge part in the camera system. This should translate to better low-light photos and use of the depth sensors for bokeh effects.
When it comes to video, there’s little to be said about the iPhone XS and XS Max. They were quite literally the best in the segment. The incoming iPhones shouldn’t deviate from that tradition.
Screen Technologies
There’s been a rumour going around that Apple intends to phase out LCD phones from their line-up. That’s why there’s some traction to the whispers that the iPhone 11 would be equipped with OLED. However, there’s no indication of this Apple’s cancellation of LCD-equipped phones will happen this year.
So far, it’s still really up in the air whether the 11 would have an LCD or an OLED panel. If in case, they do stick with LCD, there really shouldn't be an issue. They've confirmed with the success of the XR. that people didn't mind the older screen tech. But if they do introduce OLED to the entry-level iPhone this year, it would be an awesome deal.
There are also whispers that the new phones would be equipped with something like the iPad Pro’s Pro-Motion display. The iPhone Pros, therefore, might come with the smooth buttery 120Hz refresh rates that people are drooling over. However, Apple isn’t known for being the first through the door for game-changing tech like this. So, in the meantime, this rumour doesn’t seem to hold much weight.
Spec Bumps
Of course, the internals should also be upgraded this year. The A12 Bionic chips are already more powerful and efficient than a lot of Intel PC processors already out there. The iPhone 11 line-ups' performance might just be an exercise in futility to discuss. The A13 processor should crush whatever application you throw at it.
As for storage, there should be much of the same options from last year such as the 64GB, 256GB, and the whopping 512GB variants.
#Razer added a heavy duty graphics card and lightening quick processor to their #StealthBlade13 ultra-portable laptop which makes it a decent option for gaming. But reviews are mixed with some pointing out that it's expensive for what you get and it heats up quickly. Do you think the upgrades make it worth buying?
I have been reading about solar powered batteries/generators and I wonder if anyone has any actual first-hand experience? It sounds good but I feel like it isn't worth it, because they're pricey and usually very large. How green are they?
I have just gotten into photo editing for my personal Instagram account. I don't like to over-edit, I just like my pictures to look a little more vibrant, as my camera seems to wash out some colors. I've started using VSCO but I find that the filters are either too complicated for me, or they just don't look natural anymore. Which ones are your favorite?
I miss having a headphone jack, but not enough to switch phones. Still, some high-end audio purists and heavy gamers might consider making a switch to a smartphone that still has one. Is the headphone jack important to you?