Commenting on the news, Canalys Research Manager Himani Mukka, said:

“The tablet industry has had a positive start to 2024, and the rest of the year should bring further relief after a difficult 2023. Despite the extended period of cautious consumer spending on tablets, vendors have remained ambitious. New market entrants have kept investing in the category while the traditional heavyweights are delivering on innovation to excite customers and drive new use cases.”

Ever since tablets were made popular in their current form factor by the launch of the iPad, they have barely changed. According to Canalys, however, we will see more foldable designs and tablets that support eye-wear-free 3D content viewing which could help make these devices more popular with consumers.

Regarding the players in the market, Apple held onto its top spot with 35.6% of the market share but it actually declined 13.9% year-over-year. The following companies were Samsung (20.2%), Huawei (8.1%), Lenovo (6.3%), and Amazon (6.1%). Interestingly, Huawei performed the best with an annual growth of 70.2%, despite all the pressure it is under from Western governments. The company which suffered the most was Amazon, which saw a decline of 18.2%.

Apple’s tablet shipment hit seems to be in line with what’s going on with its smartphones. Neowin reported just a week or so ago that Apple’s phone shipments slumped by 16% during the first quarter. Notably, Apple’s shipments have held up relatively well over the last few years while others struggled.

Ever since the launch of the first iPad, tablets have found themselves sandwiched between smartphones and computers. Without a keyboard, you’re not going to be particularly productive with a tablet and at the same time you have your phone for leisure so for many people it’s a struggle seeing where tablets fit into their lives.

Source: Canalys

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According to analyst Jeff Pu of Haitong International Securities (via 9To5Google), Apple could let go of the iPhone 17 Plus model and could introduce a new iPhone 17 Slim variant, suggesting that Cupertino has significant plans for its next-gen iPhones.

Analyst Jeff claimed that the 2026 iPhone 17 Slim could come with a 6.6-inch display and, more importantly, could sport a different design. The devices are alleged to come with front-facing camera improvements and a smaller Dynamic Island (a punch-hole, maybe?).

As per the rumor, the iPhone 17 lineup would then consist of an iPhone 17, an iPhone 17 Slim, an iPhone 17 Pro, and an iPhone 17 Pro Max. Allegedly, the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Slim, and iPhone 17 Pro would use an aluminum frame, while the iPhone 17 Pro Max would be manufactured using the more durable titanium frame.

Analyst Jeff also claims that the iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Slim could see a RAM boost. Rumors suggest that the iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Slim could come with 8GB of RAM, while the Pro models could come with 12GB of RAM. The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max could come with an advanced A19 Pro chipset, while the iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Slim could be powered by an A18 or A19 processor.

Various reports suggest that the iPhone Plus models aren't a hit among the masses and are considered a commercial failure. This is why Apple might be reworking its strategy and could introduce a new iPhone 17 Slim phone and replace the Plus model.

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In the Android world, multiple smartphone brands are manufacturing folding phones. Samsung, Motorola, and OPPO are some of the big names in this category. When we talk about Apple, there has been a wave of rumors about a folding iPhone, but nothing concrete has surfaced online. Now, the latest patent leak shows Apple's folding iPhone with an innovative hinge mechanism.

Apple's patent filed with the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) last October has surfaced online (via Patently Apple), showing a novel hinge design for the folding iPhone. The folding iPhone design bears a resemblance to the flip-style clamshell foldable similar to the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip series.

However, the novel hinge mechanism that Apple is rumored to be considering for its folding iPhone has a greater range of motion. According to the leaked patent images, the hinge potentially allows the device to fold both ways, i.e., inwards and outwards. This will be a one-of-a-kind device on the market if it ever debuts. Notably, there have been rumors that a folding iPhone could launch in 2026.

According to the leaked patent images, the folding mechanism applies to a broad set of devices including phones, tablets, laptops, and other portable devices. But the patent allegedly hints that if Apple were to bring a foldable iPhone, then they could consider a clamshell design over a folding boo-like style for their first folding iPhone.

The patent image also shows that the hinge would come with synchronization gear plates with interlocked teeth, allowing for "synchronized rotational movement between the left and right halves of the hinge."

Do note that a patent doesn't confirm or guarantee a product release. Apple, like other manufacturers, files multiple patents each year. But only a fraction of those patents get converted into a real-life product. So, a folding iPhone might be launched in the future, or it will stay as a patent for some more time. Notably, there have been rumors that a folding iPhone could launch in 2026.

Let us know your thoughts on a folding iPhone, and would you consider a folding iPhone if it ever gets launched?

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However, a new tip on X (formerly Twitter) from reliable tipster Roland Quandt suggests that Samsung may power its 2026 flagships with an in-house GPU. The company's 2025 flagships, i.e., the Galaxy S25 series, will continue to use the Exynos chipset, specifically the Exynos 2500 (S5E9955), featuring an AMD GPU. Here's what the post reads:

Umm... so there's S5E9945 right? (Exynos 2400)
And then there's S5E9955, which follows after that.
Exynos 2400 has an AMD GPU. The follow-up will have AMD GPU, too, it seems.

 

After that, in 2026, Samsung seems to aim for the release of a next-gen flagship SoC feat it's own GPU.

Samsung's Xclipse GPU, built in collaboration with AMD, powers the existing Exynos 2200 and Exynos 2400. But in 2026, Samsung may take a new step in its GPU strategy and may ship the 2026 flagships with its own GPU. Samsung is rumored to be developing a custom graphics processing unit tailored specially for the Galaxy flagship devices after the decent success of the Exynos 2400 SoC.

As the tipster has coined 2026 for the release date of Samsung's own GPU, it remains to be seen if Exynos will continue to power Samsung flagships or if Samsung may re-brand Exynos as a Galaxy-exclusive chipset.

Samsung's Galaxy S25 series that will launch next year will be powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 for Galaxy and Exynos 2500, which will be developed on a 3nm process. Later in 2026, Samsung will debut the Galaxy S26 series, and markets like the US and Canada may most likely get the Snapdragon-powered devices, while Europe, Asia, and Africa may get Samsung's chip powered by the in-house GPU.

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Now a fresh leak reveals how Apple's AI efforts will transform most of its core or first-party applications with iOS 18. In a detailed leak, Apple Insider has revealed that AI-powered upgrades that Apple is planning will be applied across all its core apps, including Safari, Spotlight Search, Siri, Mail, and Messages.

These AI-powered features will elevate the user experience while preserving the one thing Apple has been known for, i.e., privacy. Correlating with the previous news of AI features running locally on an iPhone, Apple's major feature in its AI arsenal is a lightning-fast, on-device complete sentence response generation feature.

Reportedly called 'Ajax' LLM, Apple's framework will analyze the text input at fast speeds and will offer multiple responses ranked by accuracy and relevancy. The Ajax LLM's feature of analyzing keywords and phrases at lightning speed will be a key element for producing text summaries for not only Safari but for Messages as well.

Apple's upcoming Safari 18 update is also expected to introduce a new 'Intelligent Search' feature. This would allow users to generate concise summaries of web pages quickly and easily. Apple's AI model also features remarkable integration with the apps, allowing it to pull information from saved contacts and calendars to craft contextually correct responses, which will also benefit Siri.

However, do note that higher-level tasks like creative text generation and in-depth response generation could still rely on cloud processing, which aligns with previous news where it was reported that Apple is currently eyeing a partnership with OpenAI and Google to bring AI features to iPhones.

Apple Insider further notes that Apple is still developing its AI models to cut down on the dependency on cloud-based processing, showing a clear dedication to user privacy. This would ensure that private user information remains protected. Apple is expected to unveil these AI features at the WWDC event later this year.

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According to the latest report, the Sony Xperia 1 VI could be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor. The leaks suggest that the phone could sport a triple-camera setup with a 16mm ultrawide, a 24mm main camera, and an improved 85-170mm telephoto camera, which would offer up to 7X zoom.

The point to note here is that according to the leaks, the zoom camera on the alleged Sony Xperia 1 VI goes further than the zoom camera on the Xperia 1 V, which maxes out at 125mm. However, the other camera specifications are identical to those of the Xperia 1 V. The leaks claim that the Xperia 1 VI will support macro photography from the main camera, and the image quality will match the quality of 'full-sized cameras.'

One of the prominent changes is speculated to happen on the software side. After years of having multiple camera apps, this time around, if we go by the latest leaks, Sony will move over to just a single camera app, allegedly inspired by the Sony Alpha cameras.

The Xperia 1 VI will also be equipped with the Alpha series camera's "human pose estimation technology," allowing the user to pinpoint focus on a subject, even if it is facing away. Also, it is rumored that Sony will include a new 'Video Creator' app to help simplify video production.

The display size is rumored to be 19.5:9, and the OLED panel will be 1.5x brighter than the Xperia 1 V panel. The touch sampling rate is 240 Hz, and under the hood, the phone will be powered by a 5,000 mAh battery, with support for wireless charging and reverse wireless charging.

Good news for audiophiles: the leak suggests that the Xperia 1 VI will keep the 3.5mm audio jack around, and its speakers will be as good as before, if not better. As per the leaked renders, the phone could come with a frosted textured glass back and will be available in black and platinum silver color options.

In select regions, Sony will give you a year of Sony Pictures movie streaming on the purchase of Xperia 1 VI, along with five movie titles, remastered with IMAX video and DTS sound, optimized and ready for the phone.

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When Apple CEO Tim Cook and a bunch of his deputies take the virtual stage next week to announce new iPads, they’re going to spend a lot of time talking about specs. If the rumors are true, we’re going to get new iPad Pros with OLED screens and thinner bodies, new Airs with faster chips and a correctly placed front camera, and a couple of new accessories. Before they even launch, I feel confident telling you these are the best iPads ever. But after all these years, I still don’t know how to tell you whether you should want an iPad. Or what you’d want to do with it. 

 

This has been true forever, of course. The iPad is the jack-of-all-trades in Apple’s lineup, a terrific device in many ways that still feels increasingly redundant now that so many people have big phones and long-lasting laptops. Apple seems to have spent the last decade-plus enamored with the idea of the iPad as a shapeshifter — a device that can be exactly what you need at any given time. The company loves that the iPad’s use case is hard to pin down, that it means different things to different people. It’s a fun, good, ambitious idea: The One Gadget To Rule Them All. The way to make that happen, though, is not to upgrade the chips or move the buttons or redesign the rounded corners. It’s to focus less on the iPad itself and more on the things you attach to it.

 

There’s a chance that accessories might be the star of the show next week. Just look at the surprisingly unsubtle invite to the “Let Loose” event: usually there are tea leaves to read and we’re left trying to decipher vague shapes, but this time, there’s just an Apple Pencil front and center. Reports have indicated that we’re likely to see a new Pencil at the event, with interchangeable magnetic tips for different uses and a new “squeeze” gesture for quickly adding objects to your artwork.

 

Focusing on the Pencil makes a certain kind of niche sense: the iPad is nothing if not a big touchscreen, and it’s the only Apple device that you can draw and write on in this way. Apple’s AI researchers have been working on tools to help artists and animators with their work and on a system for making art in tandem with an AI model — you prompt, it creates; you edit, it refines. For anyone who does this kind of visual art, a super-powered Pencil could be incredibly compelling.

 

The “Let Loose” event is clearly about the Pencil.

Image: Apple

 

Apple is also rumored to be launching a new Magic Keyboard that makes the iPad even more laptop-like. The new model will apparently be made of aluminum and will have a bigger trackpad. (It hopefully will also stop randomly just falling apart.) A better keyboard won’t immediately make the iPad a great laptop, but I’m not sure a great laptop is what Apple is trying to build. It already has a bunch of those! I’m not really on the “put macOS on the iPad, you cowards” train, either. The MacBook is great. I think the iPad’s modular potential is actually much bigger. 

 

If Apple wants to get there, it needs more accessories — so, so many more accessories. The iPad is a screen and a processor, and everything else should be an add-on for whenever you need it. Give the gamers a controller and an external GPU. Give the music lovers a speaker dock, and give the smart home fanatics a bunch of buttons that connect to various devices. The photographers need lenses; the spreadsheeters need a keyboard with function keys. The Pencil and the Magic Keyboard are a start, but Apple needs to do much more. The company needs to spend less time worrying about the iPad itself — a device famous for how long it lasts and that hardly anyone is using to its full potential — and more time on how to make it more than just a tablet. (Plus, bonus for Apple: it’s going to be a lot easier to get people to buy accessories than to convince them to upgrade their iPad when they don’t need to.)

 

The ultra-modular vision for the iPad is enticing, and I hope Apple continues to lean into it, but it’s near impossible to pull off. Just ask Essential how it went trying to build a device and an accessory ecosystem. Or ask Google. Or Asus. Or Fairphone or Samsung or Motorola or Blocks or Phonebloks or any of the other companies that never pulled it off. It requires building software that can be all things to all people all the time and hardware that is beautiful, thin, light, long-lasting, and totally remixable. I’m not even sure it’s possible to do all of that, but I know the iPad and iPadOS ain’t it.

 

The problem with the iPad’s all-in-one approach so far is that you can’t just build a device that’s sort of okay at everything and hope that’s enough. The sort-of-okay device already exists — it’s your smartphone! The iPad has to be more than that: more flexible, more powerful, more long-lasting, more useful. That’s hard to build into a device, but Apple’s actually done a pretty good job. The harder part is building the ecosystem — and building the software that can support it. You need something that is at once for power users and newbies, for tinkerers and simpletons, for people who love keyboard shortcuts and the people who would prefer to never type again. 

 

You can’t just build a device that’s sort of okay at everything and hope that’s enough

 

Ultimately, the biggest problem for Apple might just be math. The current iPad Pro starts at $799, which is already more expensive than some MacBook Air models. Want cellular connectivity so you can use the iPad anywhere? That’s another $200, but a good modular gadget needs it. The current-gen Pencil is another $129; the Magic Keyboard, another $299. (I don’t yet know what the new models will cost, but Apple’s not really in the habit of making things cheaper.) That’s $1,328 for the full iPad experience, and we’ve only scratched the surface of what this device could do with the right accessories and app support. And so far, when Apple does introduce new accessories, it has mostly just made things more confusing.

 

Where does all of this leave Apple? Stuck. The iPad is great, it’s a smashing success, it’s a terrific device, I love the iPad, but the iPad seems to be stuck in an endless upgrade loop without ever actually getting better. I suspect we’re going to see a lot of iPadOS-related news at WWDC next month — that’s where Apple tends to do its software talking, and all signs point to a huge focus on AI. The iPad could be a natural place to bring a lot of AI features, particularly in image and video editing. As for next week’s announcement, though, we’re likely to hear an awful lot about OLED screens and chip upgrades. But pay attention to all the devices in the iPad’s universe that aren’t the iPad itself. If Apple wants to make its tablet into the world-beating device it could be, it’s going to need to accessorize.

 

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These changes include the ability to download apps from websites, install and use third-party app marketplaces, and also includes prompts to set default applications for key services such as web browsing (something that Microsoft has had to do in the past). Apple has included safeguards within any app that is available on the platforms, which requires a baseline security and privacy review prior to running on the OS to ensure that it still has some element of control over what can and cannot run on its hardware.

Given the implementation method for iPhones being limited to those within the EU (and the feature disabling after a set amount of time outside the region), it's expected that the implementation on iPadOS will be consistent as there are a lot of similarities between the two platforms which shared the same iOS branding until iPadOS 13.1 in 2019.

With WWDC 2024 coming soon from June 10 to 14, 2024, the expectation is that the next version of both iOS and iPadOS will be announced with first betas to follow shortly after that. These would be iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 respectively, with the newest versions rumoured to run generative AI features among other updates across the board. Additionally, there are new iPad models expected to be announced at the "Let Loose" iPad event on May 7, 2024, which are rumoured to include OLED panels and an AI-capable M4 chip.

Source: MacRumors

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Today's blog post announces that if you sign up for a Copilot Pro subscription at $20 a month, you will be able to access the Copilot generative AI assistant in the Outlook mobile apps. Copilot can be used to coach people on how to write an effective email or you can ask it to just create a draft from scratch based on a few text prompts.

Microsoft has also announced that the classic Outlook for Windows app now supports the Copilot Summarize feature, which can make a brief summary of a long email thread. The classic Outlook app also supports Copilot coaching, and Microsoft plans to add the draft feature to the app in the coming months.

In addition, Outlook for the web, the new Outlook for Windows app, and Outlook mobile apps now show the sender's name, their full email address, and the subject line of emails that are sent to the Junk Mail file. Microsoft stated:

This simple change helps people make better decisions on if they should open the mail or delete it instead of having to hover over the sender's name or open the message.

This improvement will be added to the Mac Outlook app later in May. Speaking of the Junk Mail file, all Outlook apps will now show a pop-up warning message when users check their Junk Mail section. It will inform them that links in those emails will not work unless the user specifically asks to visit those links.

Finally, Microsoft has started rolling out support for IMAP accounts in the new Outlook for Windows app with support for POP email accounts to be added in the coming weeks.

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While the Pixel 8a is speculated to launch at the upcoming Google I/O event on May 14, it seems like we won't have to wait for the actual launch event to know about the features Pixel 8a will come with. Android Headlines has leaked a set of Pixel 8a advertisements that showcase some notable secrets of the Pixel 8a.

According to the leaked ads, the Pixel 8a will pack an 'AI-mazing' camera on the phone, which will bundle features such as Best Take, Audio Magic Eraser, and Night Sight. Both Best Take and Night Sight aren't new features for the Pixel 8a; however. The Audio Magic Eraser is a feature that was added last fall to the Pixel 8 series and is a great addition to the mid-range Google phone.

There are other features that the ads showcase, such as screening calls with Call Assist, getting a summary of emails on the spot, and Circle to Search. Also, the ads have revealed the specifications of the device, and as expected, the Google Pixel 8a is powered by the Tensor G3 chipset, the same processor that powers the Pixel 8 and the Pixel 8 Pro.

Google has also mentioned fast charging but hasn't mentioned how many watts of fast charging is supported. Interestingly, the ads mention support for Google One VPN, which is something that is going away in June. It is possible that these ads were made before the decision to kill Google One was taken, or it's just that Google One will be promoted till its last breath.

Furthermore, the leaked ads also mention that the Pixel 8a is IP67 dust and water-resistant. One thing that Google has highlighted is that the Pixel 8a will get seven years of 'security updates', instead of just updates. So, the update policy may not be the same as the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro, as we are expecting.

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The first enhancement you’ll see in this update is the speed with which comments load. If the user clicks the comments button of a post on the homepage, they will be taken directly to the top of the comments making it easier to get into the discussion.

Next up is the ability to keep the post context in view while reading the comments thanks to a collapsible bar at the top of the discussion. This bar will be shown if you go to the post page and scroll down to the comments. Tapping on the bar will enlarge the post for a closer look.

Finally, Reddit now has consistent conversations no matter the post type. In the new update, you will experience a new unified media player, immersive transitions, and consistent gestures. To get to the conversations, just swipe up, to reach new content, just swipe left.

Reddit said that it had been working with Redditors to test out these changes to find out what works and what doesn’t. By working with the community to introduce new changes, it could mean that there is less push back from users after changes are deployed.

If you cast your mind back to the start of the 2010’s Digg, a spiritual predecessor to Reddit, introduced a major overhaul of its website which really damaged its reputation and led to a user exodus. This is why Reddit has to be careful about introducing changes and ensure they’re popular with the community first.

Reddit has also announced this week that in the coming years it plans to invest in advertising and organic shopping solutions opening up more opportunities for ecommerce brands. Ads in its platform could help it increase revenues and make it more attractive to investors now that its stocks are public.

Source: Reddit

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Passkeys can be used with Face ID or Touch ID on Apple devices, and they are more secure than traditional passwords because they are uniquely generated for every account by the user's device and are less vulnerable to phishing, as they eliminate the need to create and type a passcode. Based on FIDO Authentication, passkeys are proven to be resistant to threats of phishing, credential stuffing, and other remote attacks. Passkeys that are managed by phone or computer operating systems are automatically synced between the user’s devices via a cloud-based service.

WhatsApp is not the only app implementing passkey support, many apps, including Google and Amazon, are starting to adopt this technology as well. WhatsApp had first announced support for passkeys a year ago, but only the Android counterpart of the chat application got support for it. The accelerated support and launch for passkeys could also be due to the regulations set forth by the Digital Markets Act (DMA) that went live last year in May.

The platform has also been developing a new option to let users transfer files offline with nearby people, an in-app dialer, and there's also an iPad app in the works.

While the rollout will take time to reach everyone, WhatsApp says that you will see the option to set passkeys under Settings > Account > Passkeys.

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In a fresh tip from China, Chinese leakster Digital Chat Station on Weibo shared some crucial information about the purported OnePlus 13. According to the leak, the OnePlus 13 is speculated to come with the same screen size as the OnePlus 12. The leak notes that the alleged OnePlus 13 will pack a 6.8-inch 2K LTPO 'micro-curved' screen. For comparison's sake, the OnePlus 12 comes with a 6.82-inch display.

The leak also suggests that the purported OnePlus 13 would be powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 processor, which is yet to be announced. It is speculated that the OnePlus 13 could be the second phone to launch with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 processor, as the first rights to launch the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 phone are still with Xiaomi. It is expected to launch the Xiaomi 15 smartphone with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 processor in China before it is launched globally.

The Digital Chat Station also suggested that the OnePlus 13 could pack a periscope camera (allegedly a 3x camera). The leak further says that the phone will come with a new design. Notably, OnePlus has been using the same design for the past few years, which may have worked in their favor, but the company might be thinking otherwise.

Given that it is early days, we recommend that you take any information with a grain of salt. Needless to say, the OnePlus 13 will have top-tier specifications, and Hasselblad will be tweaking those cameras.

OnePlus is one of the few manufacturers that still includes a charging brick as standard in-box stuff. It'd be fascinating to see whether the tradition continues this year.

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This release comes after the Phi-2 model, introduced in December 2023, was surpassed in performance by models such as Meta's Llama-3 family. In the face of increased competition, Microsoft Research has applied newer techniques to its curriculum learning approach.

The new 3.8 billion parameter model improves on the previous Phi-2 model while using significantly fewer resources than larger language models. At just 3.8 billion parameters, Phi-3 Mini outperforms both Meta's 8 billion parameter Llama and OpenAI's 3.5 billion parameter GPT-3, according to Microsoft's own benchmarks.

We introduce phi-3-mini, a 3.8 billion parameter language model trained on 3.3 trillion tokens, whose overall performance, as measured by both academic benchmarks and internal testing, rivals that of models such as Mixtral 8x7B and GPT-3.5 (e.g., phi-3-mini achieves 69% on MMLU and 8.38 on MT-bench), despite being small enough to be deployed on a phone.

 

We also provide some initial parameter-scaling results with a 7B and 14B models trained for 4.8T tokens, called phi-3-small and phi-3-medium, both significantly more capable than phi-3-mini (e.g., respectively 75% and 78% on MMLU, and 8.7 and 8.9 on MT-bench).

Due to its smaller size, the Phi-3 family is optimized for low-power devices compared to larger models. Microsoft Vice President Eric Boyd said (via The Verge) that the new model is capable of advanced natural language processing directly on a smartphone. This makes Phi-3 Mini well-suited for novel applications that require AI assistance anywhere.

While Phi-3 Mini outperforms competitors in its weight class, it cannot match the breadth of knowledge of massive models trained on the Internet. However, Boyd notes that smaller, high-quality models tend to perform better because internal datasets are often more limited in scale.

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As per updated guidelines (spotted by 9to5Mac), retro game emulators are now allowed in the App Store and can also offer downloaded games. Apple has warned the developers that the games should adhere to all relevant laws, and failing to comply would lead to stricter action against the developers.

Apple has also emailed game emulator developers to inform them that they can create and offer their emulators on the App Store. Before this update, game emulators weren't allowed on the App Store. However, there were ways to use emulators on an Apple device, which usually required jailbreaking and sideloading tools.

Thanks to the newly updated guidelines, Apple has eliminated the need to jailbreak to enjoy emulators on Apple devices. Developers need to take precautions that pirated game offering is a big no-no. It is unclear what has caused the change of hearts for Apple, but there is speculation that this could be because of the mounting legal pressure from the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA).

Recently, Apple has also relaxed its policies to allow sideloading apps on the iPhone and iPad. Even though Apple has eased the restrictions, don't expect a flood of retro game emulators to pop up on the App Store as the hurdle of Apple's app review process stands in place.

Apart from allowing game emulators onto the App Store, the updated guidelines also introduced new "Music Streaming Services Entitlements" in the European Union, allowing music streaming apps in specific regions to include links to an external website.

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Samsung will hold the second Galaxy Unpacked 2024 event later this year, with some reports suggesting it could happen a bit earlier this year, in July. The second Unpacked 2024 event will mark the debut of the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 6. Various details about the Galaxy Z Fold 6 are surfacing online, with the latest rumors suggesting the same battery specifications and charging speed as the Galaxy Z Fold 5.

Following the tip revealing the purported dimensions of the Galaxy Z Fold 6, reliable tipster IceUniverse (via X) has now disclosed that the Galaxy Z Fold 6 will come with a battery capacity of 4,400 mAh and 25W wired charging support, which is similar to the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Fold 4.

He further replied to a comment and confirmed that there is a very low chance that Samsung will alter these battery specifications for the upcoming Galaxy Z Fold 6. Samsung is expected to launch the Galaxy Z Fold 6 in July in Paris, ahead of the start of the Olympic Games. Besides, this year's Galaxy Z Fold 6 is also shedding some weight and is rumored to weigh 239 grams, 14 grams lighter than the Galaxy Z Fold 5.

Moreover, reports are suggesting that Samsung could also launch a budget-friendly version of the Galaxy Z Fold 6 later this year. The Galaxy Z Flip and the Galaxy Z Fold phones have always been Samsung's premium offerings. However, thanks to Chinese companies like OPPO, Vivo, and TECNO, buyers already have multiple pocket-friendly flips and foldable phone options on the market.

With the launch of a budget Galaxy Z Fold 6, Samsung must be eyeing to capture this newly created market before it is too late. The wallet-friendly Galaxy Z Fold 6 could also launch alongside its premium sibling, the Galaxy Z Fold 6, in July, but there is no official information regarding that at the moment.

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Leaks suggest that the Google Pixel 8a is going to be powered by the Tensor G3 chip paired with 8GB of RAM, will pack a 120Hz 6.1-inch OLED display with a peak brightness of 1,400 nits, and could purportedly look similar to the Pixel 8. On the price front, it is rumored to be more expensive than the Pixel 7a.

Now, in a Fi Wireless ad, Google might have seemingly shown a Pixel 8a render. Spotted by a YouTube user named frutejuise, the phone is purported to be the Pixel 8a because the ad shows the mockup with a dual-camera setup, which is what the Pixel 8a is reported to rock, and more importantly, the phone in the ad doesn't have the mic hole in the same spot as the Pixel 8. On the Pixel 8, the mic is placed between the cameras and the LED.

This suggests that we could be looking at the Google Pixel 8a. The phone in the ad, rumored to be the Pixel 8a, was shown off in blue and off-white colors. Moreover, the phone shown in the ad has a matte frame, which certainly doesn't look like a Pixel 8 Pro.

If this is true, then Google may announce the Pixel 8a sooner than we expected. But anything unofficial should always be taken with a grain of salt. There is also a possibility that the phone shown in the Fi Wireless ad isn't Pixel 8a at all, and it is just a random render.

In case you aren't all that interested in the 8a, it is also a good time to own a Google Pixel 8 Pro, Pixel 8, or the Pixel 7a (128/256GB) variants, as the phones are available at their lowest prices.

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Some strings of codes have been spotted in the Android 15 Developer Preview 2 release for a new 'Adaptive Timeout' setting. According to the description in the string, the adaptive timeout feature "automatically turns off your screen early if you're not using your device."

While the description doesn't mention how this would work, it may use your smartphone's advanced sensors, front-facing cameras, or a combination of both to detect whether or not you are using your phone.

Here are the strings that were reportedly found in the teardown of Android 15 Developer Preview 2:

One interesting thing is that these codes were found to belong to classes under the com.google.* namespace. This suggests that the adaptive timeout feature may not be a part of Android 15's open-source build but be a part of Google's Android 15 build for its Pixel phones.

The adaptive timeout feature is great as it will intelligently detect if the user is using the phone or not, and when not in use, it will turn off the screen, making it difficult for others to access your phone's data. Moreover, it will also help battery life since longer screen time means a quick drain of your phone's juice.

Android smartphones have the option to extend the screen time-off display, where you can prevent your smartphone's screen from turning off for a specific set period. Besides, phones from Samsung and Pixel come with a feature that allows the phone's screen to stay on as long as the user is viewing it. This feature keeps the screen awake as long as it can detect a face viewing it using the front-facing cameras.

Source: Android Authority

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What you need to know

• Microsoft is testing the option to use any extension in Edge for Android.
• Using any extension requires you to have Edge Canary, enable developer mode, and use the extension ID of whatever you'd like to run in your browser.
• Microsoft introduced extension support in a limited capacity earlier this year and the feature is still in beta.

Microsoft Edge for Android may soon support using any extension that you'd like. Microsoft started testing extensions in Edge for Android earlier this year, but a savvy Reddit user spotted the option to install any extension on Edge Canary for Android, though you need to jump through a few hoops to replicate the process.

Using any extension requires enabling developer mode and using the Extension install ID of what you'd like to run, so it's not a seamless experience. But that's to be expected during this early stage of testing.

Initially, you had to have Edge Canary to try extensions, but you can now enable them in the stable version of Edge for Android. After using extensions in Edge for Android for one week, I asked how I ever lived without them. I've continued to use extensions in Edge since then and can't imagine swapping to a browser without extension support. Hopefully more extensions work within the browser soon.

Regardless of the version of Edge you're using on Android, you have to enable extensions through Edge://flags:

1. Go to Edge://flags in the address bar.
2. Search for "Android Extension."
3. Toggled Android Extension to "Enabled."
4. While on any webpage, tap the hamburger menu (three lines) in the lower-right-hand corner of Edge.
5. Scroll down and select "Extensions," which appears next to a puzzle piece icon.
6. Select "Manage Extensions."
7. Choose which extensions you'd like installed on Microsoft Edge.

Oddly, the supported extensions appear to differ depending on the version of Edge you use. In my testing, Dark Reader, uBlock Origin, and Global Speed work on Edge Canary but the stable version of Edge only supports Dark Reader and Global Speed.

How to use any extension in Edge mobile

It is possible to use any extension in Edge mobile right now, but it's in the early stages of testing and requires several steps to enable and set up. You may also experience frequent crashes. It may not be worth the hassle to enable all extensions at the moment. But if you're eager to do so, Reddit user daplugg23 outlined the steps:

1. Open Microsoft Edge Canary.
2. Go to Settings and then tap on “About Microsoft Edge.”
3. At the bottom of the screen, tap on the Edge build number (e.g., Edge Canary 125.0.2487.0) 5 times to enable Developer Options.
4. In the Developer Options, tap on “Extension install by id.”
5. To find the extension ID, follow these steps: a. Open the Microsoft Edge Web Store (https://microsoftedge.microsoft.com/addons/Microsoft-Edge-Extensions-Home). b. Find and select the extension you want to install. c. Look at the URL in the address bar. d. The extension ID is the long string of characters at the end of the URL (e.g., jbkfoedolllekgbhcbcoahefnbanhhlh for Bitwarden).
6. Enter the extension ID into the “Extension install by id” field on your Edge Canary browser.
7. The extension should now be installed on your Android device.

Presumably, if using more extensions works well on Edge, Microsoft will streamline the process. Alternatively, Microsoft may expand the list of included extensions gradually.

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In early March, Google made the odd announcement that only one of its two latest smartphones, the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro, would be able to run its latest AI model, called "Google Gemini." Despite having very similar specs, the smaller Pixel 8 wouldn't get the new AI model, with the company citing mysterious "hardware limitations" as the reason. It was a strange statement considering the fact that Google designed and marketed the Pixel 8 to be AI-centric and then designed a smartphone-centric AI model called "Gemini Nano" yet still couldn't make the two work together.

 

A few weeks later, Google is backtracking somewhat. The company announced on the Pixel Phone Help forum that the smaller Pixel 8 actually will get Gemini Nano in the next big quarterly Android release, which should happen in June. There's a catch, though—while the Pixel 8 Pro will get Gemini Nano as a user-facing feature, on the Pixel 8, it's only being released "as a developer option." That means you'll be able to turn it on only via the hidden Developer Options menu in the settings, and most people will miss out on it.

 

Google's Seang Chau, VP of devices and services software, explained the decision on the company's in-house "Made by Google" podcast. "The Pixel 8 Pro, having 12GB of RAM, was a perfect place for us to put [Gemini Nano] on the device and see what we could do," Chau said. "When we looked at the Pixel 8 as an example, the Pixel 8 has 4GB less memory, and it wasn't as easy of a call to just say, 'all right, we're going to enable it on Pixel 8 as well.'" According to Chau, Google's trepidation is because the company doesn't want to "degrade the experience" on the smaller Pixel 8, which only has 8GB of RAM.

 

Chau went on to describe what it's like to have a large language model like Gemini Nano on your phone, and it sounds like there are big trade-offs involved. Google wants some of the AI models to be "RAM-resident" so they're always loaded in memory. One such feature is "smart reply," which tries to auto-generate text replies.

 

Chau told the podcast, "Smart Reply is something that requires the models to be RAM-resident so that it's available all the time. You don't want to wait for the model to load on a Gboard reply, so we keep it resident." For that reason, Google is keeping the Gemini-powered smart reply behind a developer flag for both the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro. The "Smart reply" options in the normal keyboard settings aren't Gemini-powered.

 

So unlike an app, which can be loaded and unloaded as you use it, running something like Gemini Nano could mean permanently losing what is apparently a big chunk of system memory. The baseline of 8GB of RAM for Android phones may need to be increased again in the future. The high mark we've seen for phones is 24GB of RAM, and the bigger flagships usually have 12GB or 16GB of RAM, so it's certainly doable.

 

Google's Gemini Nano model is also shipping on the Galaxy S24 lineup, and the base model there has 8GB of RAM, too. When Google originally cited hardware limitations on the Pixel 8 for the feature's absence, its explanation was confusing—if the base-model S24 can run it, the Pixel 8 should be able to as well. It's all about how much of a trade-off you're willing to make in available memory for apps, though. Chau says the team is "still doing system health validation because even if you're a developer, you might want to use your phone on a daily basis."

 

The elephant in the room, though, is that as a user, I don't even know if I want Gemini Nano on my phone. We're at the peak of the generative AI hype cycle, and Google has its own internal reasons (the stock market) for pushing AI so hard. While visiting ChatGPT and asking it questions can be useful, that's just an app. Actually useful OS-level generative AI features are few and far between. I don't really need a keyboard to auto-generate replies. If it's just going to use up a bunch of RAM that could be used by apps, I might want to turn it off.

 

This post was updated March 30 after receiving additional data from Google PR. Google told us neither the Pixel 8 or Pixel 8 Pro is keeping Gemini in memory right now, unless you turn on the developer flag. That means by default, neither device's smart reply feature is powered by Gemini.

 

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However, with March now almost over, it appears that those release date plans have changed. Today, Bloomberg and Gurman are now stating the new iPad models won't launch until sometime in early May 2024. Gurman added that Apple's parts suppliers "have ramped up production" to get the new iPad models out by that time frame.

Previous unconfirmed reports have claimed the new iPad Pro models will be sold in 11-inch and 13-inch versions and will include Apple's in-house M3 processor. The biggest change for these tablets is that the Pro models will have OLED displays for the first time, which should offer a better display experience for owners.

The launch of the new iPad Air models will reportedly include one with the current model's 10.9-inch display along with a new version with a larger 12.9-inch screen. We should also expect to see new accessories like a keyboard and a new Apple Pencil to launch at the same time.

The report says that the delay in the new iPad launches was due to two factors. One was that the new screens, such as the OLED displays for the upcoming iPad Pro models, needed some more time due to "complex new manufacturing techniques". The other issue was that Apple reportedly needed more time to finish the software for the new tablets.

The last version of the iPad Air was launched over two years ago on March 8, 2022. The current version of the iPad Pro launched in October 2022. It's been that long since any new iPad versions have been released, and that may be part of the reason why sales in that division have taken a downturn in recent Apple financial results.

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Unboxing a new gadget is always a fun experience, but it's usually marred somewhat by the setup process. Either your device has been in a box for months, or it's just now launching and ships in the box with pre-release software. Either way, the first thing you have to do is connect to Wi-Fi and wait several minutes for an OS update to download and install. The issue is so common that going through a lengthy download is an expected part of buying anything that connects to the Internet.

 

But what if you could update the device while it's still in the box? That's the latest plan cooked up by Apple, which is close to rolling out a system that will let Apple Stores wirelessly update new iPhones while they're still in their boxes. The new system is called "Presto."

 

French site iGeneration has the first picture of what this setup looks like. It starts with a clearly Apple-designed silver rack that holds iPhones and has a few lights on the front. The site (through translation) calls the device a "toaster," and yes, it looks like a toaster oven or food heating rack.

 

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has been writing about whispers of this project for months, saying in one article that the device can "wirelessly turn on the iPhone, update its software and then power it back down—all without the phone’s packaging ever being opened." In another article, he wrote that the device uses "MagSafe and other wireless technologies." The iGeneration report also mentions that the device uses NFC, and there are "templates" that help with positioning the various-sized iPhone boxes so the NFC and wireless charging will work. With that wireless charging, downloading, and installing, all while being isolated in a cardboard box, Apple's "toaster" probably gets pretty hot.

 

No one has explained exactly how the system works, but we can make some educated guesses. Even when an iPhone is "off" or discharged, it's still possible for the NFC chip to work. Apple Pay and digital card keys are already set up to work with a low battery. Placing a box in the Presto oven would presumably trigger the NFC chip, wake the OS, and cause the phone to boot into an Apple-only unattended update mode (hopefully, there is a lot of security around this).

 

NFC's maximum data rate of 848 kbit/s means there's no way you could send an OS update over that connection, but that quick burst of data is good enough to wake the phone and pass it an SSID and password for a Wi-Fi connection of some kind, which pretty much has to exist in the Presto oven somewhere. With wireless charging powering the phone the whole time, it will have plenty of juice to connect to the Internet, download the update, and install it.

 

The idea of updating a phone in its box is a uniquely Apple proposition, as pulling it off requires end-to-end control of the device. It will take a lot of work put into the hardware, software, box design, and the unique phone oven itself, and the system will require an army of Apple-controlled retail stores that are committed to updating the devices. That's a huge amount of work just to avoid the minor inconvenience of the initial setup download. Only Apple would think to do this.

 

Some software support for the Presto box is already built into iOS 17.2, so it sounds like it's just a matter of rolling out the hardware at Apple Stores. Gurman's report from earlier this week said the rollout would start in April for the US and finish by the summer.

 

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