Apple fanboys furious at the slight Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has launched a scathing attack on Apple's 'Find My' service, branding it as "super creepy surveillance tech" that "shouldn't exist." Sweeney recounted an incident where a Mac laptop was stolen from his car. Years later, he discovered the thief's address through the 'Find My' service, as the Mac was still linked to his Apple ID. When asked if he retrieved his laptop, Sweeney admitted he hadn't. Instead, he was "creeped out" by the un
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has launched a scathing attack on Apple's 'Find My' service, branding it as "super creepy surveillance tech" that "shouldn't exist."
Sweeney recounted an incident where a Mac laptop was stolen from his car. Years later, he discovered the thief's address through the 'Find My' service, as the Mac was still linked to his Apple ID.
When asked if he retrieved his laptop, Sweeney admitted he hadn't. Instead, he was "creeped out" by the unexpected revelation of the thief's address and subsequently disabled 'Find My iPhone' on all his devices.
Apple fanboys rushed to mock Sweeney, suggesting his wealth made him indifferent to the theft. They also questioned his motives, implying he was merely trying to tarnish wonderful Apple's reputation amidst ongoing legal battles.
Sweeney argued that tracking a device inevitably involves tracking the person in possession of it, infringing on privacy rights. He asserted that the recovery of lost or stolen devices should be handled through legal channels, not by the device owner.
While he didn’t mention it, there have been cases of shoot outs between Apple fanboys and people who they thought were thieves. Other a cases where a shoot out happened because a tag led police to the wrong address.
Other Apple fanboys were desperate to point out that Epic Games' had privacy violations, which resulted in a $520 million fine. It is worth pointing out that Apple has four privacy class actions in the works.
Others noted that iPhone thefts decreased after Apple introduced the 'Activation Lock' feature, although to be fair that might have been because the newer iPhones were pretty pointless.
AppleInsider criticised Sweeney's logic, to which he responded by highlighting the potential dangers of such tracking technologies, especially for families and innocent buyers of second-hand devices. He quoted Steve Jobs, expressing concerns about the risks of stalking and other harmful consequences. Quoting St Steve against against fan boys is the burn of all times.
50MP front camera and 50W charging Nothing has officially launched its new Phone (2a) Plus, an updated version of the original Phone (2a) launched back in March, which gets the new Dimensity 7350 Pro SoC, 50MP front camera, new color options, and a few other updates. Desing-wise, the Nothing Phone (2a) Plus is pretty much the same as the original non-Plus version, and the only updates are the two new updated color options, Black and Grey, and the new Glyph system. It has the same dimensions, th
Nothing has officially launched its new Phone (2a) Plus, an updated version of the original Phone (2a) launched back in March, which gets the new Dimensity 7350 Pro SoC, 50MP front camera, new color options, and a few other updates.
Desing-wise, the Nothing Phone (2a) Plus is pretty much the same as the original non-Plus version, and the only updates are the two new updated color options, Black and Grey, and the new Glyph system. It has the same dimensions, the same glass front with Gorilla Glass 5, and the same plastic back with a plastic frame. It also still uses the same "flexible" 6.7-inch AMOLED screen with 2412x1084 resolution (395PPI), 120Hz adaptive refresh rate, 1,300nits of peak brightness, and 1m:1 contrast ratio.
Nothing updated the Glyphs as well, giving it 26 LED lights, as opposed to just 3 on the original one. The rear camera system is also the same, as it gets two 50MP sensors, one behind an f/1.9 24mm wide lens with PDAF and OIS, and one behind an f/2.2 ultrawide lens. The front camera has been updated to a 50MP sensor behind the same f/2.2 lens.
The biggest update is the new 4nm Mediatek Dimensity 7350 Pro SoC, which is an octa-core SoC with two Cortex-A715 and six Cortex-A510 cores and Mali-G610 MC4 GPU. While it looks the same as the original Dimensity 7200 Pro SoC, it has higher clocks all across the board, and you can expect up to 10 percent faster CPU performance and up to 30 percent faster GPU performance, according to Nothing. Nothing is pairing it up with 256GB of storage, and 12GB of RAM with 8GB of "RAM Booster".
The battery is still 5,000mAh, but it gets faster 50W charging. It will run on Nothing OS 2.6 based on Android 14, and gets ChatGPT integration as well as the new News Reporter Widget with the voice of Nothing's CFO Tim Holbrow.
$100 more in the US and €150 in Europe It appears that Samsung's upcoming Galaxy Z Flip6 will indeed get a price increase in both the US and Europe, at least judging from multiple earlier reports. The first leak that came from the US, revealed a price increase of $100 for both storage options, putting the entry 256GB model at $1,099.99 and the 512GB one at $1,219.99. A similar report comes from Saminsider shows that Europe will share the same fate, with the entry-level 256GB model starting at €
It appears that Samsung's upcoming Galaxy Z Flip6 will indeed get a price increase in both the US and Europe, at least judging from multiple earlier reports.
The first leak that came from the US, revealed a price increase of $100 for both storage options, putting the entry 256GB model at $1,099.99 and the 512GB one at $1,219.99. A similar report comes from Saminsider shows that Europe will share the same fate, with the entry-level 256GB model starting at €1,340 and the 512GB model at €1,467. This is about a €150 increase compared to the Galaxy Z Flip5, which was priced at €1,200 and €1,320.
On the other hand, the Galaxy Z Flip6 will finally get 12GB of RAM, as well as a better 50MP camera and a bigger battery. In case you missed it, it still gets a 6.7-inch screen, and retains the same 187g weight. It will come in mint, silver, yellow, and blue color options. The Galaxy Z Flip6 is expected to launch on July 10th.
While christening a new UCLA technology and research center in January, Gov. Gavin Newsom let loose with some fairly typical rhetoric about California's leading-edge role in tech development: "California is the epicenter of global innovation—from the creation of the internet to the dominance of artificial intelligence, humanity's future happens here first." Yet for the so-called epicenter of innovation, our state certainly doesn't give innovators
While christening a new UCLA technology and research center in January, Gov. Gavin Newsom let loose with some fairly typical rhetoric about California's leading-edge role in tech development: "California is the epicenter of global innovation—from the creation of the internet to the dominance of artificial intelligence, humanity's future happens here first."
Yet for the so-called epicenter of innovation, our state certainly doesn't give innovators a lot of room to experiment with new ideas. California lawmakers and regulators are so intent on limiting and controlling any promising new development that we've instead become the poster child for Ronald Reagan's famous quotation: "If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it."
Maybe Newsom and the Democratic Legislature haven't noticed, but California has been facing a tech exodus, as many prominent firms leave for states that give them more elbow room to create the next wave of promising innovations. Given the state's dependence on capital gains revenue, it's one reason we're now facing a $45-billion or more budget deficit.
On the good news front, Crunchbasereports that the San Francisco Bay Area may be experiencing a tech resurgence based around artificial intelligence systems, with the region receiving "more than 50 percent of all global venture funding for AI-related startups." But will the state kill that boom before it takes off? Based on the latest actions of the legislature, the answer is "probably."
The Senate Appropriations Committee recently gave the go-ahead to Senate Bill 915, which would "prioritize local control in the decision to deploy autonomous vehicle services." In addition to gaining all the many state approvals, robo-taxi firms would also have to deal with exploding local regulations.
The legislation has been amended to apply to the 15 largest cities and it would forbid localities from banning self-driving cars, but that doesn't ameliorate my concern. This technology is rolling out mainly in big cities anyway. It's easy to kill a technology without outright banning it by, say, forcing these companies to face dramatically different driving rules in every different city where they go.
Like all cutting-edge innovations, self-driving cars strike many of us as an ominous and dangerous development. But most new cars already have various self-driving features (lane assist, adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitoring). And computers are almost certainly better drivers than people. Nearly 43,000 Americans die in car crashes each year, almost all of them at the hands of human drivers. Widespread A.V. use could save thousands of lives, per research from RAND.
AVs offer fabulous benefits for disabled people, the elderly, and others who cannot or choose not to drive. Yet federal, state, and local officials are worried about a few minor and inevitable problems that have popped up as this technology experiences growing pains—e.g., minor accidents and concerns about traffic violations (as if ordinary drivers don't also sometimes violate traffic laws).
One advocate for S.B. 915 expressed concern about robo-taxis getting stuck at a tricky turn—as if that's a good excuse to add a pointless mish-mash of local regulations to the mix. Ironically, AV development is one area where state regulators have taken an admirably low-key approach. In March, the California Public Utilities Commission gave Waymo, the Alphabet company's driverless-car division, the ability to expand operations in the Bay Area and Los Angeles region and even drive on freeways up to 65 mph. But even when the state takes a sensible approach, the locals want to step in to gum up the works.
And SB 915 isn't the only example of the California Legislature's kneejerk hostility to innovation. Many states are trying to regulate artificial intelligence technology, but California's Senate Bill 1047, which passed out of the Senate and has moved to the Assembly, is easily the most far-reaching example. The bill would create a new state regulatory division to regulate A.I. We all know how effective the state's bureaucrats are at handling complex matters—as well as the impact of lawsuit-promoting statutes.
Basically, the measure forces A.I. developers to mitigate every conceivable harm from their technology by engaging "in speculative fiction about imagined threats of machines run amok, computer models spun out of control, and other nightmare scenarios for which there is no basis in reality," opined an opposition letter from the pro-tech Chamber of Progress. The group rightly fears that the measure undermines California's leading-edge role in the tech sector.
Last week, I wrote about the legislature's effort to limit A.I. technology in a simple, real-world application—self-checkout lanes. Under the guise of helping stores battle retail theft, Senate Bill 1446 is a union concoction designed to limit the use of this technology to protect union grocery jobs.
So, yes, California has been the epicenter of global innovation, but it's apparently not going to continue being so for long. Let's hope Newsom heeds his own words and gets out the veto pen.
This column was first published in The Orange County Register.
We would never crush creativity Samsung is having a field day with Apple’s bizarre marketing mistake in which it promised to crush all creativity of users who bought its new iPad. Apple has since admitted that the advert, which showed Apple putting symbols of arts, music, and crafts into a crushing machine, went down amongst its target audience like a lead balloon and might have been a mistake. That has not stopped Samsung from pointing out that there was nothing new in the advert, and Jobs’ Mo
Samsung is having a field day with Apple’s bizarre marketing mistake in which it promised to crush all creativity of users who bought its new iPad.
Apple has since admitted that the advert, which showed Apple putting symbols of arts, music, and crafts into a crushing machine, went down amongst its target audience like a lead balloon and might have been a mistake. That has not stopped Samsung from pointing out that there was nothing new in the advert, and Jobs’ Mob has been crushing creativity for years.
This week Samsung released a response to the advert untitled "UnCrush," created by BBH USA and directed by Zen Pace.
In contrast to Apple's destructive message, Samsung depicts a woman navigating debris reminiscent of Apple's ad, using a Galaxy Tab S9 and Galaxy AI to play a broken guitar.
"We would never crush creativity," the caption of Samsung's video reads.
A big upgrade compared to the 5nm Exynos W930 According to a fresh report coming from Korea, Samsung's Galaxy Watch7 could get the new 3nm Exynos W1000 chipset, which could bring a significant boost in both performance and efficiency. The rumor, spotted by Sammobile.com, citing the original source coming from Korea, gives a bit more details about the new Samsung 3nm W1000 SoC for smartwatches. According to rumors, the Exynos W1000 SoC is built on Samsung's 2nd generation 3nm manufacturing node
According to a fresh report coming from Korea, Samsung's Galaxy Watch7 could get the new 3nm Exynos W1000 chipset, which could bring a significant boost in both performance and efficiency.
The rumor, spotted by Sammobile.com, citing the original source coming from Korea, gives a bit more details about the new Samsung 3nm W1000 SoC for smartwatches. According to rumors, the Exynos W1000 SoC is built on Samsung's 2nd generation 3nm manufacturing node and should be a big improvement compared to the Exynos W930 used in the Galaxy Watch 6.
In case you missed it, the Exynos W930 is a 5nm dual-core SoC with two Cortex-A55 1.4GHz cores, Mali-G68 GPU, and is paired up with 2GB of RAM. The new Exynos W1000 should also have an upper hand when compared to the Apple 5nm S9 SoC.
Other reports also suggest that Samsung will unveil three models for the Galaxy Watch7 series. The event is rumored to be set for July 10th, and focus heavily on the 2024 Summer Olympics which will be held later that month in Paris, with Samsung as one of the biggest sponsors of the games. The event will bring the Galaxy Ring, Galaxy Z Fold and Flip 6, Galaxy Watch 7, and probably new earbuds.
Samsung has yet to send out invites for this event, but we get a feeling we could see it pretty soon.
Asus Vietnam jumps the gun Asus Vietnam has leaked its own version of the laptop that will be based on Qualcomm's upcoming Snapdragon X Elite SoC. Asus decided to go with the Vivobook S 15 OLED design, which puts it in a bit of a premium segment with an OLED screen. As spotted by Roland Quandt over at Twitter, Asus' first Snapdragon X Elite laptop will be called the Vivobook S 15 OLED Snapdragon X1E. It is equipped with Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite X1E-78-100 SoC with 12 Oryon cores with peak
Asus Vietnam has leaked its own version of the laptop that will be based on Qualcomm's upcoming Snapdragon X Elite SoC. Asus decided to go with the Vivobook S 15 OLED design, which puts it in a bit of a premium segment with an OLED screen.
As spotted by Roland Quandt over at Twitter, Asus' first Snapdragon X Elite laptop will be called the Vivobook S 15 OLED Snapdragon X1E. It is equipped with Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite X1E-78-100 SoC with 12 Oryon cores with peak clock speed of 3.4GHz, 42MB of cache, and 75 TOPs of AI performance. Of course, it comes with the Adreno GPU but so far, Qualcomm keeps the details about the GPU well hidden.
The Snapdragon X1E SoC is paired with 32GB of LPDDR5X memory, a 1TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD, a 70WHr battery, and the usual connectivity options. What makes it special is the beautiful 15.6-inch 2,880x1,620 resolution OLED screen with 600 nits of peak brightness. Unfortunately, the screen is a glossy type, but it should not be that bad.
According to Roland Quandt, the price could start as high as €1,500, which definitely puts it in the high-end to premium segment. Asus Vietnam pulled the site but the screenshot still remains.
Here's ASUS' first Snapdragon X Elite laptop, that was listed on their vietnamese store for some time. pic.twitter.com/3mCKn0nVto
Adreno GPU at its best According to the latest rumor, it appears that Qualcomm's next-generation flagship mobile SoC, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4, could have an impressive GPU performance, running some GPU-intensive games at native 1080p resolution. The rumor comes from a well-known leaker, Digital Chat Station over at Weibo, suggesting that the Adreno GPU might pack quite a punch. The post is quite vague but does say that the GPU is capable of running Genshin Impact game fluently at native 1080p re
According to the latest rumor, it appears that Qualcomm's next-generation flagship mobile SoC, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4, could have an impressive GPU performance, running some GPU-intensive games at native 1080p resolution.
The rumor comes from a well-known leaker, Digital Chat Station over at Weibo, suggesting that the Adreno GPU might pack quite a punch. The post is quite vague but does say that the GPU is capable of running Genshin Impact game fluently at native 1080p resolution. Considering that the current-gen high-end chipsets are struggling to run the same game at 1080p, it sounds pretty promising.
Rumors also suggest that the development of the next-gen flagship SoC is way ahead of schedule, targeting the release date just after Chinese National Day on October 1. Xiaomi and OnePlus are already lined up as first partners to use the new flagship SoC in their flagship phones which are scheduled to launch in mid-October. (via GSMArena.com)
American federalism is struggling. Federal rules are an overwhelming presence in every state government, and some states, due to their size or other leverage, can impose their own policies on much or all of the country. The problem has been made clearer by an under-the-radar plan to phase out diesel locomotives in California. If the federal government provides the state with a helping hand, it would bring nationwide repercussions for a vital, ove
American federalism is struggling. Federal rules are an overwhelming presence in every state government, and some states, due to their size or other leverage, can impose their own policies on much or all of the country. The problem has been made clearer by an under-the-radar plan to phase out diesel locomotives in California. If the federal government provides the state with a helping hand, it would bring nationwide repercussions for a vital, overlooked industry.
Various industry and advocacy groups are lining up against California's costly measure, calling on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to deny a waiver needed to fully implement it. In the past month, more than 30 leading conservative organizations and individuals, hundreds of state and local chambers of commerce, and the U.S. agricultural sector have pleaded with the EPA to help stop this piece of extremism from escaping one coastal state.
Railroads may not be something most Americans, whose attention is on their own cars and roads, think about often. But rail is the most basic infrastructure of interstate commerce, accounting for around 40 percent of long-distance ton-miles. It's also fairly clean, accounting for less than 1 percent of total U.S. emissions. Private companies, like Union Pacific in the West or CSX in the East, pay for their infrastructure and equipment. These facts haven't stopped the regulatory power grab.
Most importantly, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) regulation would have all freight trains operate in zero-emission configuration by 2035. At the end of the decade, the state is mandating the retirement of diesel locomotives 23 years or older, despite typically useful lives of over 40 years. Starting in 2030, new passenger locomotives must operate with zero emissions, with new engines for long-haul freight trains following by 2035. It limits locomotive idling and increases reporting requirements.
Given the interstate nature of railway operations, California needs the EPA to grant a waiver. If the agency agrees, the policy will inevitably affect the entire continental United States.
The kicker is that no technology exists today to enable railroads to comply with California's diktat, rendering the whole exercise fanciful at best.
The Wall Street Journal's editorial board explained last November that while Wabtec Corp. has introduced a pioneering advance in rail technology with the launch of the world's first battery-powered locomotive, the dream of a freight train fully powered by batteries remains elusive. The challenges of substituting diesel with batteries—primarily due to batteries' substantial weight and volume—make it an impractical solution for long-haul trains. Additionally, the risk of battery overheating and potential explosions, which can emit harmful gases, is a significant safety concern. As the editorial noted, "Even if the technology for zero-emission locomotives eventually arrives, railroads will have to test them over many years to guarantee their safety."
The cost-benefit analysis is woefully unfavorable to the forced displacement of diesel locomotives. To "help" the transition, beginning in 2026, CARB will force all railroads operating in California to deposit dollars into an escrow account managed by the state and frozen for the explicit pursuit of the green agenda. For large railroads, this figure will be a staggering $1.6 billion per year, whereas some smaller railroads will pay up to $5 million.
Many of these smaller companies have signaled that they will simply go out of business. For the large railroads, the requirement will lock up about 20 percent of annual spending, money typically used for maintenance and safety improvements.
Transportation is the largest source of U.S. emissions, yet railroads' contribution amounts to not much more than a rounding error. The industry cites its efficiency improvements over time, allowing railroads today to move a ton of freight more than 500 miles on a single gallon of diesel. Its expensive machines, which last between 30 to 50 years and are retrofitted throughout their life cycles, are about 75 percent more efficient than long-haul trucks that carry a comparative amount of freight.
As Patricia Patnode of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, which signed the aforementioned letter to the EPA, recently remarked, "Rather than abolish diesel trains, CARB should stand in awe of these marvels of energy-efficient transportation."
President Joe Biden talks a lot about trains, but his actions since taking office have consistently punished the private companies we should value far more than state-supported Amtrak. In this case, EPA Administrator Michael Regan and the White House need not think too hard. They should wait for reality to catch up before imposing on the rest of us one state's demands and ambitions.
President Joe Biden says, "I know how to make government work!" You'd think he'd know. He's worked in government for 51 years. But the truth is, no one can make government work. Biden hasn't. Look at the chaos at the border, our military's botched withdrawal from Afghanistan, the rising cost of living, our unsustainable record-high debt. In my new video, economist Ed Stringham argues that no government can ever work well, because "even the best p
President Joe Biden says, "I know how to make government work!"
You'd think he'd know. He's worked in government for 51 years.
But the truth is, no one can make government work.
Biden hasn't.
Look at the chaos at the border, our military's botched withdrawal from Afghanistan, the rising cost of living, our unsustainable record-high debt.
In my new video, economist Ed Stringham argues that no government can ever work well, because "even the best person can't implement change….The massive bureaucracy gets bigger and slower."
I learned that as a consumer reporter watching bureaucrats regulate business. Their rules usually made life worse for consumers.
Yet politicians want government to do more!
Remember the unveiling of Obamacare's website? Millions tried to sign up. The first day, only six got it to work.
Vice President Joe Biden made excuses: "Neither [Obama] and I are technology geeks."
Stringham points out, "If they can't design a basic simple website, how are they going to manage half the economy?"
While bureaucrats struggled with the Obamacare site, the private sector successfully created Uber and Lyft, platforms like iCloud, apps like Waze, smartwatches, etc.
The private sector creates things that work because it has to. If businesses don't serve customers well, they go out of business.
But government is a monopoly. It never goes out of business. With no competition, there's less pressure to improve.
Often good people join government. Some work as hard as workers in the private sector.
But not for long. Because the bureaucracy's incentives kill initiative.
If a government worker works hard, he might get a small raise. But he sits near others who earn the same pay and, thanks to archaic civil service rules, are unlikely to get fired even if they're late, lazy, or stupid.
Over time, that's demoralizing. Eventually government workers conclude, "Why try?"
In the private sector, workers must strive to make things better. If they don't, competitors will, and you might lose your job.
Governments never go out of business.
"Companies can only stay in business if they always keep their customer happy," Stringham points out. "Competition pushes us to be better. Government has no competition."
I push back.
"Politicians say, 'Voters can vote us out.'"
"With a free market," Stringham replies, "the consumer votes every single day with the dollar. Under politics, we have to wait four years."
It's another reason why, over time, government never works as well as the private sector.
Year after year, the Pentagon fails audits.
If a private company repeatedly does that, they get shut down. But government never gets shut down.
A Pentagon spokeswoman makes excuses: "We're working on improving our process. We certainly are learning each time."
They don't learn much. They still fail audits.
"It's like we're living in Groundhog Day," Stringham jokes.
When COVID-19 hit, politicians handed out almost $2 trillion in "rescue" funds. The Government Accountability Office says more than $100 billion were stolen.
"One woman bought a Bentley," laughs Stringham. "A father and son bought a luxury home."
At least Biden noticed the fraud. He announced, "We're going to make you pay back what you stole!
No. They will not. Biden's Fraud Enforcement Task Force has recovered only 1 percent of what was stolen.
Even without fraud, government makes money vanish. I've reported on my town's $2 million toilet in a park. When I confronted the parks commissioner, he said, "$2 million was a bargain! Today it would cost $3 million."
That's government work.
More recently, Biden proudly announced that government would create "500,000 [electric vehicle] charging stations."
After two years, they've built seven. Not 7,000. Just seven.
Over the same time, greedy, profit-seeking Amazon built 17,000.
"Privatize!" says Stringham. "Whenever we think something's important, question whether government should do it."
In Britain, government-owned Jaguar lost money year after year. Only when Britain sold the company to private investors did Jaguar start turning a profit selling cars people actually like.
When Sweden sold Absolut Vodka, the company increased its profits sixfold.
It's ridiculous for Biden to say, "I know how to make government work."
No one does.
Next week, this column takes on Donald Trump's promise: "We'll drain the Washington swamp!"
6nm update of the Dimensity 6100+ MediaTek has announced its newest Dimensity 6300 SoC that will be coming to mid-range smartphones this year. Built on a 6nm manufacturing at TSMC, the Dimensity 6300 SoC is an octa-core SoC with two Cortex-A76 cores and six Cortex-A55 cores, paired up with Mali-G57 MC2 GPU. According to MediaTek, the new Dimensity 6300 SoC should offer a 10 percent improvement in CPU performance and up to 50 percent GPU performance improvement, compared to the Dimensity 6100+ S
MediaTek has announced its newest Dimensity 6300 SoC that will be coming to mid-range smartphones this year. Built on a 6nm manufacturing at TSMC, the Dimensity 6300 SoC is an octa-core SoC with two Cortex-A76 cores and six Cortex-A55 cores, paired up with Mali-G57 MC2 GPU.
According to MediaTek, the new Dimensity 6300 SoC should offer a 10 percent improvement in CPU performance and up to 50 percent GPU performance improvement, compared to the Dimensity 6100+ SoC introduced last year. As said, the Dimensity 6300 is an octa-core design with two Cortex-A76 clocked at 2.4GHz and six Cortex-A55 cores clocked at 2.0GHz. The CPU is paired up with the Mali-G57 MC2 GPU, and MediaTek claims we'll see 11 percent higher power efficiency and up to 13 percent higher FPS in games.
The new GPU supports 10-bit HDR AMOLED screens with up to 120Hz refresh rate, up to 108MP camera system, and the latest 5G modem technologies with a boost in downlink performance up to 20 percent, reaching 3.3Gb/s. It also comes with MediTek's UltraSave 3.0+ technology.
The first phone that should come with the new Dimensity 6300 SoC is the Realme C65 5G, launching next month.
Could be officially unveiled on April 20 Some Lenovo laptops with the Qualcomm Snapdragon Elite X SoC have been spotted online, including the Yoga Slim 7 14 and Thinkpad T14s. According to Qualcomm, these could be unveiled at the Lenovo Tech World '24 keynote on April 20th. Leaked pictures coming from Twitter Walkingcat user shows both the Yoga Slim 7 14 and the Thinkpad 14s "Snapdragon Edition", both pretty high-end devices from Lenovo. Unfortunately, the provided details only include a couple
Some Lenovo laptops with the Qualcomm Snapdragon Elite X SoC have been spotted online, including the Yoga Slim 7 14 and Thinkpad T14s. According to Qualcomm, these could be unveiled at the Lenovo Tech World '24 keynote on April 20th.
Leaked pictures coming from Twitter Walkingcat user shows both the Yoga Slim 7 14 and the Thinkpad 14s "Snapdragon Edition", both pretty high-end devices from Lenovo. Unfortunately, the provided details only include a couple of pictures and names of these two laptops, as there are no specifications, so there are no details about the actual version of the Snapdragon Elite X SoC.
Recent Geekbench benchmark listings leaked some information, showing the Snapdragon X Elite-X1E78100 12-core SoC running at 3.42GHz. Of course, we'll have to wait for the official launch unless we get further leaks as we draw closer to the April 20th event. As said, Qualcomm already teased the announcement on its official Weibo channel for that same Lenovo Tech World '24 event.
Prices starting at €480 for A55 and €380 for A35 European retailer has jumped the gun and has put both the upcoming Galaxy A55 and the Galaxy A35 on sale, revealing European prices for all versions of both models. The Galaxy A55 and the Galaxy A35 are scheduled to officially launch on March 11. In case you missed earlier leaks, both phones use the same design and are quite hard to tell apart. The Galaxy A55 should end up with a 6.5-inch 2340x1080 120Hz AMOLED screen, while the Galaxy A35 should
European retailer has jumped the gun and has put both the upcoming Galaxy A55 and the Galaxy A35 on sale, revealing European prices for all versions of both models. The Galaxy A55 and the Galaxy A35 are scheduled to officially launch on March 11.
In case you missed earlier leaks, both phones use the same design and are quite hard to tell apart. The Galaxy A55 should end up with a 6.5-inch 2340x1080 120Hz AMOLED screen, while the Galaxy A35 should be slightly larger at 6.6-inch, according to earlier rumors. The listing lists both phones at 6.6-inch so the earlier rumor might be wrong. Interestingly, both screens should share the same specifications, but the Galaxy A55 will have a glass back with an aluminum frame, while the less expensive Galaxy A35 will end up with a plastic frame and plastic back. The Galaxy A55 will also get a more powerful Exynos 1480 SoC, while the Galaxy A35 sticks to the Exynos 1380.
Both phones will have a triple rear camera system, with the Galaxy A55 featuring a 50MP main sensor, 12MP ultrawide, and 5MP macro, while the Galaxy A35 ends up with a 50MP main sensor, 8MP ultrawide, and 2MP macro one. The Galaxy A55 also has a 32MP selfie camera, while the A35 ends up with a 13MP one. Both phones will also have 5,000mAh battery with 25W wired charging, and both should have an under-display optical sensor.
The Samsung Galaxy A55 will start at €479 for the base 128GB model, while the 256GB version will sell for €50 more, at €529, at least according to this leak. The Galaxy A35 starts at €379 for the base 128GB version and €449 for the 256GB one, which also gets 8GB of RAM.
Luxury electric automaker Rivian made several big announcements this week related to its expanding product line. At the same time, though, the company announced that it would pause construction on a factory in Georgia that received some of the most generous taxpayer-funded incentives in state history. On Thursday, Rivian unveiled three new vehicles that will be available in the coming years. The company already offers the R1T and R1S, a luxury tr
Luxury electric automaker Rivian made several big announcements this week related to its expanding product line. At the same time, though, the company announced that it would pause construction on a factory in Georgia that received some of the most generous taxpayer-funded incentives in state history.
On Thursday, Rivian unveiled three new vehicles that will be available in the coming years. The company already offers the R1T and R1S, a luxury truck and SUV, respectively, which start at $70,000–$75,000 and can cost $100,000 or more. CEO R.J. Scaringe announced the R2, a smaller and more modest SUV that would be available in 2026 with prices starting at $45,000, as well as the R3 and R3X crossovers, also expected to be less expensive than the R1 series.
As Reason has documented, Rivian went public in November 2021, promising luxury electric vehicles that would be both stylish and rugged. The following month, the company—which only had a single factory in Illinois—struck a deal to build its second factory in Georgia: Rivian would spend $5 billion on the factory, and in exchange, Georgia state and local governments authorized up to $1.5 billion in tax credits and incentives.
In the years since, however, the company has struggled. In May 2023, Bloombergreported that the company had lost 93 percent of its share value, and its market cap reflected "almost no value beyond the company's cash hoard." In the fourth quarter of 2023, the company lost $43,372 on each vehicle sold, up from a $30,648 per-vehicle loss in the third quarter.
Branching out into the more affordable R2 and R3 models is key to Rivian's long-term survival, opening up its product line to appeal to more than just those who can pay over $75,000 for a luxury vehicle. And to do this, it had to make some adjustments.
"To enable R2 to be launched earlier and with a considerable reduction in the capital required for its launch, Rivian plans to start production of R2 in its existing Normal, Illinois manufacturing facility," the company announced. It is also pausing construction in Georgia: "Rivian's Georgia plant remains an extremely important part of its strategy to scale production of R2 and R3. The timing for resuming construction is expected to be later to focus its teams on the capital-efficient launch of R2 in Normal, Illinois."
The move is expected to save the company $2.25 billion "as compared to the original forecast of launching the first line of R2 production at Rivian's Georgia site."
In October, the company announced that the Georgia site was "95 percent graded" and "nearly ready for construction to begin." Notably, under the incentive agreement, Georgia officials paid over $32 million for "clearing and grading" the site.
One year ago, almost to the day, Scaringe reaffirmed the company's dedication to the Georgia project, telling The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "We're committed to this state and this project," adding that "the future of our company in terms of scaling and growing really relies on the future of this project. There's not another option. We're not planning an alternative. This must work."
The electric vehicle market, while growing, is in flux, due to softening consumer demand and persistently high interest rates. Just last month, Apple—the first company in history to ever record a $3 trillion valuation—canceled its decade-long quest to develop an electric car. General Motors and Ford have also rolled back pledged investments in electric vehicles.
In that sense, Rivian's pivot would be perfectly reasonable—companies must be free to adapt to changing circumstances in a way that benefits both their customers and their shareholders. But as with any central planning scheme, state economic incentives don't tend to allow for those sorts of dynamic pivots. In this case, Georgia officials mortgaged a large amount of taxpayer money on a plan that foresaw the company continuing on a path that no longer seems financially feasible.
Claims iPhones can last longer without any new updates. Apple has fiddled with the iPhone 15's battery lifespan. The company said its latest iPhones can keep 80 per cent of their original charging capacity after 1,000 cycles — double the previous estimate — without any new hardware or software updates. All it took was a magical press release, and the phones started charging longer. This is somewhat magical because Apple is usually in trouble over battery issues, so claiming they are suddenly la
Claims iPhones can last longer without any new updates.
Apple has fiddled with the iPhone 15's battery lifespan. The company said its latest iPhones can keep 80 per cent of their original charging capacity after 1,000 cycles — double the previous estimate — without any new hardware or software updates.
All it took was a magical press release, and the phones started charging longer. This is somewhat magical because Apple is usually in trouble over battery issues, so claiming they are suddenly lasting longer is a miracle with raising the dead.
While the Tame Apple Press trumpets this claim without engaging its brain, cynical organs like ourselves think this is just too convenient, given that the change will come just in time for new EU rules that will give phones an energy grade for their battery longevity.
Starting in June 2025, smartphone and tablet makers doing business in the EU will be given a grade (A to G) showing their energy efficiency, battery longevity, protection from dust and water and resistance to accidental drops.
The battery longevity bit of the grade requires at least 800 charging cycles while keeping at least 80 per cent of their original capacity, which explains why Apple started retesting its devices' long-term health.
Before today, Apple's online support documents said iPhone batteries could keep 80 per cent of their original full charge after 500 cycles.
Jobs Mob claims that after it retested long-term battery health in its 2023 smartphones — iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max — it found they can keep 80 per cent capacity after at least 1,000 cycles. The company said its support documents will be updated on Tuesday to reflect the new estimate.
Apple says its testing involved charging and draining the batteries 1,000 times under specific conditions, and many tests reflect common uses. As for how the estimate doubled without any physical or software changes, the company says it's thanks to continual improvements to its battery bits and iOS power management.
For older (pre-2023) iPhones, the original estimate of keeping 80 per cent capacity after 500 charge cycles still stands. Apple said it's looking into whether older models' estimates need to be updated.
Apple recommends keeping your phone in temperatures between 16 and 22 degrees Celsius for ideal battery longevity. You'll also want to avoid charging or leaving your handset in hot places (35 degrees or warmer) while trying to avoid much direct sun exposure.
Don't trust them to tell you blood sugar levels The health agency says it has not given the green light to any gadget that claims to measure blood sugar levels without a blood sample. The FDA has issued a warning on Wednesday that it has blessed any smartwatch or smart ring that claims to measure blood glucose levels. The use of these dodgy devices can lead to wrong measurements and blunders in managing diabetes that can be deadly, the agency said. These dodgy devices are different from smartwa
The health agency says it has not given the green light to any gadget that claims to measure blood sugar levels without a blood sample.
The FDA has issued a warning on Wednesday that it has blessed any smartwatch or smart ring that claims to measure blood glucose levels. The use of these dodgy devices can lead to wrong measurements and blunders in managing diabetes that can be deadly, the agency said.
These dodgy devices are different from smartwatch apps that show data from FDA-approved continuous glucose monitoring devices that pierce the skin.
The FDA did not name and shame any brands but said the sellers of these dodgy smartwatches and smart rings advertise using non-invasive techniques to measure blood glucose without requiring people to prick their fingers or pierce their skin.
However, the agency said these devices do not directly test blood glucose levels, urging punters to steer clear of buying them for that purpose.
The agency also advised health care providers to chat with their patients about the risk of using dodgy blood glucose measuring devices and to help them pick a proper authorised device for their needs.
The agency is working to make sure that manufacturers, distributors, and sellers do not flog dodgy smartwatches or smart rings that claim to measure blood glucose levels, the FDA said in the statement.
"If your medical care depends on accurate blood glucose measurements, talk to your health care provider about a proper FDA-authorised device for your needs."
The FDA's warning comes as more people turn to smartwatches and smart rings to monitor their health and fitness. Some of these gadgets claim to measure blood pressure, heart rate, oxygen levels, and even stress levels.
Tame Apple Press brays for blood Two chaps have been busted for a $3 million iPhone swindle with over 5,000 dodgy devices. According to 9to5Mac, Haotian Sun and Pengfei Xue, 33, were nailed by a US jury for their cunning con, which involved flogging fake iPhones to Apple for real ones. The crooks were part of a more prominent gang that ripped off Jobs' Mob by sending them counterfeit iPhones for repair and returning brand new ones. Sun and Xue got their phoney phones from Hong Kong and stashed
Two chaps have been busted for a $3 million iPhone swindle with over 5,000 dodgy devices.
According to 9to5Mac, Haotian Sun and Pengfei Xue, 33, were nailed by a US jury for their cunning con, which involved flogging fake iPhones to Apple for real ones.
The crooks were part of a more prominent gang that ripped off Jobs' Mob by sending them counterfeit iPhones for repair and returning brand new ones. Sun and Xue got their phoney phones from Hong Kong and stashed them in UPS mailboxes across Washington, D.C. They then took them to Apple shops and service providers, including the one in Georgetown, and claimed they were broken.
The jury heard they pulled this stunt with over 5,000 phones, costing Apple a fortune. Sun and Xue used fake names to cover their tracks. They were nabbed on December 5, 2019. If the Tame Apple Press gets its way, they could be locked up for 20 years. They will be sentenced on June 21, 2024.
The scam was just like that run by the Liao brothers, who were jailed for 41 months for a similar scam with iPhones and iPads. They got their knock-offs from China, swapped them for the real deal, and sold them overseas for a profit.
New tires for automobiles could become more expensive and less safe under legislation proposed by Washington state lawmakers. The proposed bill would give the state Department of Commerce the power to ban the sale of tires it deems bad for the environment. The bill targets heavier and more durable tires, which sponsors say have greater rolling resistance, making them less energy efficient. But critics say the bill would effectively ban cheaper ti
New tires for automobiles could become more expensive and less safe under legislation proposed by Washington state lawmakers. The proposed bill would give the state Department of Commerce the power to ban the sale of tires it deems bad for the environment. The bill targets heavier and more durable tires, which sponsors say have greater rolling resistance, making them less energy efficient. But critics say the bill would effectively ban cheaper tires and make those that are sold less safe. "The easiest way to reduce rolling resistance is to reduce tread depth which will, in turn, reduce wet traction performance," said Tracey Norberg of the U.S. Tire Manufacturer's Association. "It'll reduce tire life, and it'll increase scrap tire generation."
Tame Apple Press brays for blood Two chaps have been busted for a $3 million iPhone swindle with over 5,000 dodgy devices. According to 9to5Mac, Haotian Sun and Pengfei Xue, 33, were nailed by a US jury for their cunning con, which involved flogging fake iPhones to Apple for real ones. The crooks were part of a more prominent gang that ripped off Jobs' Mob by sending them counterfeit iPhones for repair and returning brand new ones. Sun and Xue got their phoney phones from Hong Kong and stashed
Two chaps have been busted for a $3 million iPhone swindle with over 5,000 dodgy devices.
According to 9to5Mac, Haotian Sun and Pengfei Xue, 33, were nailed by a US jury for their cunning con, which involved flogging fake iPhones to Apple for real ones.
The crooks were part of a more prominent gang that ripped off Jobs' Mob by sending them counterfeit iPhones for repair and returning brand new ones. Sun and Xue got their phoney phones from Hong Kong and stashed them in UPS mailboxes across Washington, D.C. They then took them to Apple shops and service providers, including the one in Georgetown, and claimed they were broken.
The jury heard they pulled this stunt with over 5,000 phones, costing Apple a fortune. Sun and Xue used fake names to cover their tracks. They were nabbed on December 5, 2019. If the Tame Apple Press gets its way, they could be locked up for 20 years. They will be sentenced on June 21, 2024.
The scam was just like that run by the Liao brothers, who were jailed for 41 months for a similar scam with iPhones and iPads. They got their knock-offs from China, swapped them for the real deal, and sold them overseas for a profit.
No word on compact Zenfone 11 Asus has confirmed the official announcement date for its upcoming Zenfone 11 Ultra smartphone, which will take place on March 14, simultaneously in Taipei, New York, and Berlin, suggesting a global launch of the phone. Unfortunately, there is still no word on a more compact Zenfone 11 version. The Twitter post detailing the announcement also briefly details AI integration and previously released teasers detailed some camera features like video stabilization. portr
The Twitter post detailing the announcement also briefly details AI integration and previously released teasers detailed some camera features like video stabilization. portrait mode, and more. Thankfully, an earlier leak showed that the Zenfone 11 Ultra is a ROG Phone 8 Pro in disguise, which means it will share a lot of specifications but lack gaming-oriented features like RGB lights and AirTriggers.
This means the Zenfone 11 Ultra will be built around a 6.78-inch AMOLED screen with 2400x1080 resolution and 1-120Hz refresh rate, and be powered by Qualcomm's flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC paired up with 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 512GB of UFS 4.0 storage.
It also gets the same rear main camera setup with a 50MP main IMX890 sensor, a 13MP one behind a 120-degree ultrawide lens, and a 32MP sensor behind a telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom and built-in OIS.
It also comes with a hefty 5,500mAh battery with 65W wired and 15W wireless charging and will be available in five color options, Eternal Black, Skyline Blue, Misty Gray, Verdure Green, and Desert Sienna.
More details will be unveiled on March 14, and hopefully, Asus will have some details about its compact Zenfone 11, as these cover a specific part of the market and are quite popular phones among those looking for a flagship performance in a more compact chassis.
Přihlásit se
