Is there something odd with the iPad Pro's Mini-LED screen or are you watching it wrong?

Is there something odd with the iPad Pro's Mini-LED screen or are you watching it wrong?

Here are a bunch of iOS 15 features that Apple didn’t mention earlier

As usual, some of the most intriguing changes weren't necessarily the biggest.

New Maps interface.

First image of article image gallery. Please visit the source link to see all images.

 

As Apple's annual WWDC conference wraps up, we have a whole week of developer sessions and press briefings to look back on, plus a bunch of bullet points on Apple's various feature pages to sort through.

The result? There are a bunch of interesting features coming to iPhones in iOS 15 that Apple didn't highlight during its public-facing keynote event on Monday.

We're not going to list them all, as there are far too many little changes in the upcoming software updates. If you want to review the complete list, Apple has published detailed feature pages on its site.

But we'll highlight some features below that we thought were particularly interesting.

Some changes to Safari

There are many tiny adjustments in Safari that may add up to be more than the sum of their parts.

In addition to the tab groups feature talked about at length during Monday's keynote presentation, the tab bar is getting a major overhaul. It takes up less space and is placed in what Apple thinks will be an easier-to-reach spot. It also "seamlessly moves out of the way as you scroll and appears again with a tap."

You can also move quickly between tabs by swiping left or right on the tab bar. Swiping all the way to the right opens a new tab.

You can now use a pull-to-refresh gesture in Safari, like the one seen in the Chrome iOS app or Apple's own Mail app. You can set a background image for the start page, and there are new sections, like Privacy Report or Shared With You, that you can add or remove.

As with Safari on macOS, Safari on iOS now automatically upgrades sites "known to support HTTPS from insecure HTTP."

And as was mentioned in the keynote, the iOS version of Safari is getting web extension support.

Spotlight gets more useful

Perhaps the most notable change to Spotlight, iOS's system-wide search feature, is that it's now accessible from the lock screen and notification center. Previously, you could reach it only from the home screen or the widgets panel.

Apple showed some of this action in screenshots during the presentation, but if you missed it, there are a number of enhancements to the results that Spotlight shows in response to your searches.

Maps results that have corresponding App Clips (like big chain restaurants) will now show "action buttons" for menus, tickets, ordering, or reservations. Likewise, App Store results that are shown in response to your searches will now have a button you can tap to quickly install those apps without having to switch over to the App Store app.

Many new widgets

We were a little surprised at how few widgets there were for Apple-made apps when home screen widgets first arrived on the iPhone last year, but Apple has expanded the list quite a bit with iOS (and iPadOS) 15.

A new sleep widget shows your sleep schedule and data about your sleep quality. Another for Mail shows your most recent messages in a selected inbox.

A Contacts widget allows you to text, call, or email family or friends from the home screen. There's a similar widget for the "Find My" app, allowing you to check on devices or important personal contacts who are sharing location data with you.

Game Center is getting a widget that shows recently played titles and games your friends are playing. And an App Store widget elevates stories, events, and collections from the App Store's Today tab to the home screen.

Other stuff

This list isn't comprehensive, but here's a grab bag of other interesting changes that didn't fit into the categories above:

• Voice Memos will let you quickly skip over silent parts of recordings
• There are new home screen widgets for apps, including Sleep, Mail, People, Find My, Game Center, and the App Store
• Find My, Game Center, App Store Today, Sleep, Mail, and People get Family Sharing integration
• You can now ask Siri to share whatever you're looking at
• You can now zoom with the rear camera on the iPhone when showing people that camera's view during FaceTime calls
• FaceTime will warn you if it detects you trying to talk while you're muted
• Your phone can now send you alerts if you accidentally leave behind something you are tracking with Find My, like another device or AirTag
• There's a new way to get iOS security updates, even if you want to hold off on updating to the latest major release
• Apple has overhauled the print panel in iOS 15 and added new options
• You can now receive push notifications to let you know in advance if it's about to rain in your area
• You can now manually adjust the time and data associated with a picture in Photos
• You can now drag and drop a file from one app to another using the app switcher

Listing image by Samuel Axon

Here are a bunch of iOS 15 features that Apple didn’t mention earlier

(To view the article's image gallery, please visit the above link)

Microsoft has announced that they are updating the PDF Reader in the OneDrive app for Android with an option of 3 eye-friendly colours.

With 3 new colour modes for viewing PDFs—day, night, and sepia—users have more control over the appearance of PDFs and how much blue light they see.

To use the new nighttime reading mode,

1. Open a PDF in OneDrive for Android, and tap to expand the bottom sheet of the screen.
2. Tap Appearance.
3. In the Appearance window, select the colored circle for day, night, or sepia mode.
4. Night time reading mode for PDF viewing
5. View image in new tab

Microsoft will begin rolling the update out to the Google Play Store in early June and expect to complete the rollout by early July.

OneDrive for Android PDF reader is getting a nighttime reading mod

Android 12’s beautiful color-changing UI already lives up to the hype

Android 12's "Material You" UI debuts in Beta 2, and we go hands-on.

 

With Android 12 Beta 2, Google's color-changing UI is live, so we took a trip around the rainbow.

First image of article image gallery. Please visit the source link to see all images.

 

Android 12 Beta 2 came out this week, and with it, a lot of features we've only been able to see screenshots of now actually work. This includes Android's ambitious color-changing UI codenamed "Monet," and even though this is only a beta, after some hands-on time, it feels like Android 12's chameleon-like UI already lives up to the hype.

Monet—or "Material You," as Google now wants us to call it—effortlessly recolors your phone UI with a matching theme based on your wallpaper. Pick a wallpaper that is primarily blue and Android 12 will change the buttons, sliders, clock, notifications, and settings background to matching shades. This arrangement sounds like something that can't possibly work outside of an onstage tech demo, but the code is out now, and it really works. I've spent the last day maliciously trying to break it, and Android 12 reliably turns in beautiful color schemes without any contrast issues.

Google has been working on wallpaper-defined color schemes for some time, starting in Android 5.0 Lollipop and the "Palette" API back in 2014. Monet represents a second-generation swing at the idea, and while Android 5's Palette API was barely used, Google now feels confident enough with the idea to use it basically everywhere. Basically, every piece of the Android 12 system UI other than the permanently black Quick Settings background is subject to the systemwide color coordinator.

For the system UI, a rough explanation of the way this works is that Android 12 samples a single hue from your wallpaper and then generates a few colors by tweaking the brightness and saturation. Pick a green-ish wallpaper and you'll get a bright green, a dark green, a desaturated green, and a nearly white green that will be spread around most of the UI, completely automatically. The Media player notification kind of lives on its own with regard to these color selections, and it picks a wild complimentary color that is somehow based on your wallpaper.

If the slides at Google I/O are to be believed, Monet should be even better by the time release rolls around. One slide showed a wallpaper picker that displays multiple flavors of color selections created from your wallpaper. So by the time launch rolls around, Google sounds like it wants to let you nudge the color selection in a certain direction. As a buggy beta, sometimes Monet will pick one color scheme from a wallpaper when you first apply it. Then it will switch to a different color scheme when you reboot, indicating that there is room for variety here, just no controls yet.

Right now, the worst thing you can say about Monet is that it might not pick the accent color hue you want or expect. If you had something like a mostly black-and-white image with a dramatic red highlight somewhere, you might want a red accent color to tie everything together. But Monet might not pick the color you want. Those controls, assuming they actually ship, sound like exactly what the system needs right now.

In Beta 2, Monet only works on the lock screen, system UI, home screen, and settings. But at I/O, Google demoed a color-changing calculator, a phone app, and a messaging app, which will hopefully get built. (How can Google resist the messaging app!) The new widgets, which still aren't out, will also adopt your color scheme of choice on the home screen. Since we can't do a color-changing home screen yet, the new lock screen—which displays a huge clock when you don't have any notifications—is the best demo of Monet in action.

If app developers want to let Monet take the wheel with their designs, Android 12 gives them several color variables to slot into their code, which will be swapped around whenever the wallpaper changes. Developers get three "Accent" colors and two "Neutral" colors chosen by the system based on the wallpaper. On top of that, they get to pick a lightness value for each color.

Sometimes, Monet knocks your socks off with a dramatic and beautiful color selection. That makes it downright addicting to dig through a wallpaper collection to see what Android will do for each image. "Wallpaper of the day" apps now mean you'll get a whole new OS color scheme every day! Even in beta, Android 12's new UI feels exciting and fresh, and it would not surprise me to see this color-changing UI idea copied by other OS vendors in a few years.

Listing image by Android

Android 12’s beautiful color-changing UI already lives up to the hype

(To view the article's image galleries, please visit the above link)

Google kills its augmented reality “Measure” app

App let you measure things with your smartphone.

The final version of Google's Measure app. Measure a door! Measure a table! Measure stuff. 

Volume measurement and some settings.

 

Another day, another dead Google product. This time, the augmented reality app "Measure" is being put out to pasture.

As first spotted by Android Police, the Android app is no longer available via a Play Store search, and a direct link to the listing shows a new message in the description: "This app is no longer supported and will not be updated. Users who previously installed this app can continue to use it on compatible devices."

Measure was pretty neat. The app used a smartphone to measure real-life objects through the magic of augmented reality. AR tracks real-life objects in order to accurately place virtual items in a camera feed, and if the tracking is good enough, an app can turn that data into a pretty good estimate of distance. Measure was never good enough for applications like detailed carpentry work—we found that short measurements were accurate to within half an inch, and longer measurements could be off by several inches—but the best measuring tape is the one you have with you. Plus, the app worked great if you wanted to measure something large, like a telephone pole, which would be pretty difficult with a tape measure.

The Measure app started life on another dead Google product: Project Tango, which loaded a smartphone with specialized sensors, enabling early portable augmented reality on development devices in 2014 and a commercial device, the Lenovo Phab 2 Pro, in 2016. In 2018, Measure arrived on regular Android phones without all the extra sensors; Google's ARCore augmented reality toolkit did all the tracking through the camera hardware. Measure was such a good idea that Apple released a similar app for iPhones in 2018.

Measure's demise isn't a huge deal as long as the underlying framework that powers it—ARCore—is still around. ARCore handles augmented reality tracking, detection, and measurement, and the Measure app simply presented all that information in a friendly user interface. There are many alternative ARCore measurement apps on the Play Store, and since they all use the same toolkit, their tracking and accuracy should all be pretty similar—you're mostly just picking the UI you like. Some apps are in the style of straight-up rulers, while others are focused on making floor plans.

Even before Google pulled the app, Measure wasn't a great option compared to third-party alternatives. The app is down to 2.9 stars on the Play Store, with many users citing bugs and freezes. It does not sound like the app has been kept up to date. The two third-party apps linked above are hovering around 4.5 stars.

Google still uses ARCore in products like Google Maps, Google Search, and Google Lens. Plus, at Google I/O 2021, ARCore got a few new updates and APIs, so it sounds like the underlying framework is here to stay.

Google kills its augmented reality “Measure” app

Google displays a search engine selection screen on Android devices in some regions of the world, including the European Union. The majority of Android devices have Google Search as the default search provider and one complaint that was leveled at Google by regulators from the European Union was that the company pushed manufacturers to keep Google Search and Google Apps as the defaults on their devices.

Google made the decision to display a search engine selection screen in those regions. The initial selection process required payments in an auction-like system. Providers who paid the most were included, and those who refused to pay or did not bid enough were not included in the selection process.

Some providers refused to participate in the auction because they felt it was putting them at a disadvantage against companies with deeper pockets.

The updated Choice Screen support page on the Android website reveals that Google has made changes to the choice screen "in consultation with the European Commission". The auction-based choice screen won't be used anymore and search providers don't have to bid in an auction anymore or pay Google to be included.

Android users will see a list of up to 12 search providers in random order. The list includes Google Search and also other providers such as DuckDuckGo, Bing, Ecosia, or Yahoo.

The choice screen display and ordering follows the following rules:

1. The five most popular search providers in a region based on StatCounter data will be displayed randomly at the top (including Google).
2. Up to seven additional search providers are displayed randomly after the five search providers at the top. If there are more than seven eligible search providers, seven will be picked from the available providers each time the screen is displayed.

Providers need to meet certain criteria if they want to be included:

1. The search engine needs to be a general purpose search engine and not a specialized search engine.
2. The search provider needs to have a free app in Google Play.
3. Search providers must offer local language support in the regions and countries that they want to be included.
4. Search providers need to deliver required technical assets to Google.

Closing Words

Google was criticized heavily for its auction-based approach and the small number of search providers that it displayed to Android users in the original choice system. The system benefitted providers with deep pockets and meant that many providers would not be displayed to Android users, even if the search engine was more popular or liked than others.

The new system is better; the top five search providers will get the bulk of selections but even smaller providers have a chance to be selected.

Now You: which search provider do you use on your mobile devices?

Source

Apple’s text selection magnifying glass has reappeared in the iOS 15 beta, and Apple’s own site confirms its return by listing it as a feature. Bringing the feature back is a reversal from when Apple made the decision to dump it in iOS 13, which is a bit of a rare occurrence: Apple doesn’t usually go back after it’s done away with something (bringing back scissor switches in its keyboards after years of butterfly switches is a notable exception). The return of the little pop-up is welcome, though: I can only speak for myself, but since iOS 13’s release, I’ve constantly been struggling without the helpful little magnifier.

 

The new version of the text magnifier seems to be a bit smaller than the old one (in case you’ve forgotten what it used to look like, you can see a great demonstration here), but it’s at least better than the nothing that appears in iOS 13 and 14.

It will, at the very least, solve the biggest problem with the current selection system: that your thumb is covering the text you’re trying to select, which makes it a little difficult to see what’s being selected until you pick your thumb up from the screen. Then, if you’re like me, you’ll probably sigh seeing that the wrong thing is selected, then struggle with the text selection handles to try to highlight what you were actually going for (squinting at the small screen the whole time).

iOS 15 is currently in early beta, so anything we see now is subject to change — Apple could always make the magnifying glass more prominent based on feedback, if it seems like a lot of people are still struggling. While this feature isn’t quite enough for me to risk downloading the first developer beta, I think it may be what gets me to immediately grab the first public beta when it comes out.

Apple brought back the beloved magnifying glass for selecting text in iOS 15

New Pixel Feature Drop brings astrophotography features, new Pride wallpapers, and more 

New Pixel Feature Drop brings astrophotography features, new Pride wallpapers, and more

Google Pixel Buds A-Series launch in India confirmed

Last week, Google unveiled the Pixel Buds A-Series officially as its latest true wireless earbuds. It will be available starting June 17 in the US, and UK. The Google Pixel Buds A-Series will launch in India as now we have confirmation. 

 

Answering multiple queries after the launch, Made by Google’s official Twitter handle revealed that the Pixel Buds A-Series will indeed come to India. The tweet also confirmed the availability on Flipkart. “In India, it will be available through Flipkart but we have no estimated timeline. Stay tuned for updates!” the tweet reads. 

 

(Image credit: Future)

The Google Pixel Buds A-Series is Google’s second pair of TWS and is a watered-down version of the last yeast’s Google Pixel Buds. Its price tag is far more affordable than the original Pixel Buds, but it does lose out on some features. Ahead of the official launch, Mukul Sharma has also spotted the same on BIS certification which means the launch is not too far away in India. 

Google Pixel Buds A-Series features and specs

As said earlier, the Google Pixel Buds A-Series is a Lite version of the original Google Pixel Buds from 2020. The new Pixel Buds A-Series look very similar to their predecessor. It comes in a flat circular design and an egg-shaped carry case which also doubles up as a charging case. It is available in two colourways - Clearly White and Dark Olive. It is also IPX4 rated for protection against sweat and water. 

 

On the inside, the Google Pixel Buds A-Series harnesses Bluetooth 5.0 and a custom made 12mm dynamic driver. You can further access the Bass Boost feature from the companion Pixel Buds app. The adaptive feature adjusts the volume based on the outside environment. However, there is no active noise cancellation. 

 

The Pixel Buds A-Series does retain the hands-free Google Assistant from the Pixel Buds. You can use this feature to ask for directions, get real-time translations and read notifications to you. It also comes with a microphone on both buds. As for the controls, the Buds A-Series offers capacitive touch control to control music, calls, and Google Assistant as well. 

 

As far as the battery life is concerned, these buds are rated to last up to 5 hours of listening time or up to 2.5 hours of talk time with the case offering up to 24 hours of listening time or up to 12 hours of talk time. A quick 15-minute charge is rated to deliver up to 3 hours of listening time or up to 1.5 hours of talk time. It comes with a USB Type-C port for charging and does not offer wireless charging luxury. 

 

Other features include in-ear detection, motion detection, case close detection, and find my device. 

Google Pixel Buds A-Series price in India

The Google Pixel Buds A-Series is priced at $99 in the US which is around Rs 7,200. In India, we can expect the Pixel Buds A-Series to be priced under Rs 10,000 and compete against the likes of Oppo Enco X in the sub Rs 10,000 TWS segment. 

Google Pixel Buds A-Series launch in India confirmed

App Store leak hints at new watchOS 8 apps

 

With just a day to go before Apple kicks off its developer-focused WWDC 2021 event, leaks about the company's plans have already started to surface. Although we know that the Cupertino tech giant is going to show off the next generations of its operating systems, including iOS 15, watchOS 8, tvOS 15, and macOS 12, comprehensive details are not known as of yet.

 

Now, a new leak has revealed that Apple may be looking to launch new apps for watchOS 8.

Developer Khaos Tian has noted that the App Store manifest has been updated, and now contains references to several mysterious app bundles such as:

 

• com.apple.NanoTips
• com.apple.NanoContacts
• com.apple.Mind
• com.apple.findmy.finditems

 

It is important to note that "Nano" typically refers to watchOS apps, which suggests that Tips and Contacts will be launching as standalone apps in watchOS 8, similar to the existing app landscape in iOS.

 

Meanwhile, 9to5Mac reports that there have been several rumors in the past about Apple working on mental health features, so the third entry could be a dedicated app in that domain. Finally, the last entry's identifier is different from the existing "Find My" app which suggests that Apple could be launching support for finding items as a standalone app. Considering that the last two bundle IDs do not contain "Nano" in their respective names, it's likely that these two apps will be present on both iOS and watchOS.

 

That said, it is important to remember that this is all speculation for now, and we'll be learning more about Apple's plans in this space between June 7 and June 11.

App Store leak hints at new watchOS 8 apps

Microsoft has released a new update for Office for iOS Insiders. This version 2.50(21060200) adds a couple of new features for Word, Excel, PowerPoint. With the latest version installed, you’ll be able to use animated to 3D models in Office to create highly immersive documents. The new Office update will also let iOS users play GIFs in documents, worksheets, or presentations. You can read the full official changelog below.

Changelog

Word, Excel, PowerPoint

Bring documents to life with 3D animations

 

 

Animated 3D models can help you get creative, elevate your storytelling, and create highly immersive documents. Previously, 3D animations were static on iOS; now they’ve been brought to life with buttery-smooth animation playback. To try them out, open a file with an animated 3D model on your iPhone or iPad. Use the onscreen controls to play and pause the model and rotate it in 3D with animation.

 

Play GIFs

You asked for it! Up until now, even when your documents, worksheets, or presentations contained animated GIFs, they would only appear as static images. Now you can use the onscreen controls to play and pause your animated GIFs, enlivening any document or presentation.

If you are an Insider, you can download the latest Office app updates on your iOS device and try out these new improvements.

Microsoft’s latest iOS Office Insider Preview build brings new features

Microsoft Launcher gets updated with a couple of new features

Microsoft Launcher app has received an update on Android. Taking the app to version 6.210502.0.963770, the update brings a couple of new features, performance improvements, and general bug fixes.

Talking about what’s new, it’s now possible to long-press to delete the work folder. The update also includes French privacy requirements, time widget improvements. You can read the full official changelog below.

Changelog

• Support long press to delete work folder for Android work profile enrolled users.
• French privacy requirements are now available in settings.
• The time widget will now update for daylight saving time.
• Bug fixed on notification display in dark theme.
• Bug fixed on home screen restore issue from lower app version.
• Other known bugs and performance improvements were made.

You can install the Microsoft Launcher app from the below link, or you can get it by going to the Google Play Store.

Microsoft Launcher gets updated with a couple of new features

Galaxy S21 FE design leaked with several colors on the way  

Galaxy S21 FE design leaked with several colors on the way

Tinder will start letting you block people by their phone number

ZTE launches its flagship smartphone, the Axon 30 Ultra, globally for $750  

ZTE launches its flagship smartphone, the Axon 30 Ultra, globally for $750

Apple planning to refresh iPad Pro and iPad mini with new design and features  

Apple planning to refresh iPad Pro and iPad mini with new design and features

Microsoft has announced that it will be improving the “Large Gallery” layout for meetings on Teams mobile.

The view will become mobile-optimised, letting you easily swipe through all the participants in a meeting.

The view now supports up to 10 participants per page on both phones and tablets.

The improvement is coming to both iOS and Android, but only iOS devices with iOS 13 and above and Android devices with Android 9 or with 4GB of RAM and above will benefit, with handsets with the older version of the OS seeing the earlier experience.

The update will be rolling out on the Teams iOS and Android app starting in mid-June and the rollout is expected to be completed in late July.

Microsoft is improving the Large Gallery view in Microsoft Teams for iOS and Android

Zuckerberg confirms much-awaited features coming soon to WhatsApp

In terms of Disappearing messages, Zuckerberg mentioned that “WhatsApp was the first global-scale messaging network to roll out end-to-end encryption but now the company is planning to roll out more disappearing messages features globally.” The new features that he spoke about include, a disappearing mode that automatically turns on disappearing messages across all the chat threads.

Additionally, WhatsApp will also get a View Once feature that allows the user to open the video or photo only once before it automatically disappears. Will Cathcart also added that the public beta for multi-device support will be out in a month or two and he confirmed that the multi-device feature will also support the iPad.

Zuckerberg confirms much-awaited features coming soon to WhatsApp

Details of Qualcomm SM8450, successor to Snapdragon 888, leaks

Details of Qualcomm SM8450, successor to Snapdragon 888, leaks

American Heart Association says iPhone 12 MagSafe will interfere with pacemakers and defibrillators

Journal of the American Heart Association yesterday published a new research report which confirmed that Apple iPhone 12-series MagSafe technology will interfere with pacemakers and defibrillators. Apple iPhone 12 series comes with an array of magnets that has the capacity to generate magnet fieldstrength >50 gauss (G). AHA concluded that Apple iPhone 12 can cause magnet interference on CIEDs and has the potential to inhibit lifesaving therapy.

You can read about American Heart Association’s methods and results below.

This study has an in vivo and an ex vivo component. The in vivo component consists of consecutive patients who presented to the electrophysiology laboratory with previously implanted CIEDs. The iPhone 12 Pro Max was directly placed on the skin over the pocket of these patients and the effect was studied by device interrogation. For the ex vivo component of the study, CIEDs from major device companies were tested for magnetic interference caused by iPhone 12 Pro Max through unopened packages. We found that iPhone 12 Pro Max resulted in clinically identifiable magnet interference in 3/3 (100%) participants in vivo and in 8/11 (72.7%) devices ex vivo.

Source: AHA

American Heart Association says iPhone 12 MagSafe will interfere with pacemakers and defibrillators

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 is expected to release in July or August, and since we’re so close to the launch date, rumors regarding the Galaxy Z Fold 3 are surfacing almost every other day. And while rumors will continue to surface until the launch of the foldable, we’re summing up all the rumors in one post so that our readers find it easy to track them all in one place.

Galaxy Z Fold 3 display

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 is rumored to feature a 5.4-inch external display, unlike its predecessor the Galaxy Z Fold 2, and like the original Galaxy Fold. Rumors also suggest that the display of the Z Fold 3 will support the 120 Hz screen refresh rate and will have a resolution of 2,260 x 816. Reliable tipster Ice Universe says the display of the Z Fold 3 will be creaseless.

Galaxy Z Fold 3 design

According to rumors, the Z Fold 3 will be Samsung’s first smartphone to feature an under-display front camera. The Z Fold 3 is rumored to be similar to its predecessor when it comes to design. For instance, the Z Fold 3 will feature the same book-style vertical fold design. Also, it’s said to have support for the S Pen, but a dedicated pen slot won’t be added, unlike the Galaxy Note series. A recently filed Samsung patent also suggests that the Galaxy Z Fold might embrace gesture controls, thus eliminating the need to have physical buttons. Another patent discusses the possibility of a strip of LED lights on the hinge of the foldable.

According to Ice Universe, the Galaxy Z Fold 3 might be 13g lighter than the Galaxy Z Fold 2 — the former will weigh in at 269g, while the latter weighs 282g.

Moreover, the foldable smartphone is likely to have an IP rating, though the code is unknown at this point in time. Unlike the Galaxy Fold and Z Fold 2, the third generation Galaxy Z Fold will use an Armor frame and Armor layer, which, in turn, will make it more durable than the Galaxy Z Fold 2 and Galaxy Fold.

Galaxy Z Fold 3 hardware and specs

Rumor has it that the Z Fold 3 will use a Snapdragon chipset and not Samsung’s own Exynos chipset. If true, it’s likely that the Z Fold 3 will be powered by Snapdragon 888 chipset. The foldable smartphone is likely to have 12GB RAM and 256GB storage capacity as the minimum. Surprisingly, the battery capacity of the Z Fold 3 will be lesser than that of the Z Fold 2 — the former has a better capacity of 4,500mAh, while the latter will have a 4,380mAh battery and 25W fast charging support.

Much like the Z Fold 2, the third generation Z Fold will have 5G support.

Galaxy Z Fold 3 camera

Although no sources have unveiled the details of the camera on the Z Fold 3, it’s being said that the cameras will be identical to those on the Z Fold 2 — a 12MP main camera, a 12MP ultra-wide, and a 12MP telephoto, 10x zoom, and a 10MP front camera.

Galaxy Z Fold 3 price

The Galaxy Z Fold 2 currently costs $1,999 / £1,799 / AU$2,999, and we’re expecting the price of the Z Fold 3 to be very similar to that of the Fold 2.

We’ll continue to know more about the Galaxy Z Fold 3 until the launch date. Meanwhile, we’ll keep updating this post with all the future rumors related to the Z Fold 3 smartphone.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 rumor roundup: display, design, camera, hardware and specs, and more

Huawei introduces HarmonyOS to unify all kinds of smart devices  

During its product launch event today, Huawei introduced the latest version of HarmonyOS, its new operating system that will attempt to unify the ecosystem of smart devices. HarmonyOS will run on all kinds of devices, including smartphones, wearables, smart TVs, and more. In fact, Huawei says HarmonyOS can run on devices with as little as 128KB of RAM, so almost any smart device may be able to run on the platform.

 

During the presentation, Huawei emphasized the connectivity between devices enabled by HarmonyOS, saying that all kinds of devices come together to form a "super device". For example, you may able to use a phone or a smartwatch to control a camera or a drone, or you can transfer a video call from your phone to a Huawei Vision TV. Music playback can also be easily transferred from one device to another, and so on.

Huawei also showcased a connection with PCs, despite them running Windows. The company created a HarmonyOS plug-in that's meant to enable deeper connectivity between devices, so instead of sending a file from your phone to the PC using a specific app, you can easily navigate your phone's files on your PC with a file explorer.

 

It goes beyond the typical smart devices you might be thinking of, though. HarmonyOS can run on things like smart ovens and fridges, and the connectivity between devices remains useful there. You can check the temperature of your fridge using your phone by tapping it against the fridge, or set a timer for an oven by doing the same thing. It's all about connectivity and making cross-device features native to the operating system.

HarmonyOS aims to be a truly cross-device operating system, so you can also do things like transferring tasks from the task manager on a phone to a connected tablet and continue where you left off.

 

There are also Service Widgets, which make a variety of services available natively as part of the ecosystem, without having to install any apps. You can tap a phone or watch on public transit terminal to buy a ticket, for example.

 

Outside of features, Huawei also says that HarmonyOS is faster than the Android-based EMUI and other competing platforms. Huawei implemented a feature that diminishes the performance impact when your phone's storage is almost full, making reads and writes faster.

Huawei also says it's using something called DGraphicEngine, which aims to improve the render performance of smartphones. It uses smart scheduling to distribute rendering tasks between the GPU and CPU to reduce overhead, and Huawei also claims it avoids repetitive rendering tasks, so it improves both performance and battery life while gaming, for example.

 

Additionally, HarmonyOS is designed to keep apps alive in the background without impacting performance. The company says that, whenever you switch between apps you'll always go back to where you were, instead of having to reload the app and find what you were doing before.

 

To address any privacy concerns, Huawei also says that it always keeps its users' privacy in mind and that it's been certified by multiple agencies for its efforts in protecting it. It also says that adding a device to become part of a "super device" requires specific confirmation on both ends to ensure no one intrudes your personal ecosystem.

 

HarmonyOS is coming soon, and it's actually going to be available on the Huawei Watch 3, which was also announced today, along with other devices.

Huawei introduces HarmonyOS to unify all kinds of smart devices

Google reportedly working on its own foldable Pixel phone (with a bit of help from Samsung)

Google reportedly working on its own foldable Pixel phone (with a bit of help from Samsung)

Xiaomi has shown off its latest fast charging tech demo, and consequently is claiming the new world records for both wired and wireless charging speeds. Using a modified Mi 11 Pro with a 4,000mAh battery, Xiaomi says it’s able to fully charge the phone in 8 minutes over a 200W wired “HyperCharge” system, or in 15 minutes with 120W wireless charging.

 

Charging speeds are a frequent battleground for Chinese smartphone companies, who often release demonstrations of breakthroughs that may or may not show up in final products. Two years ago, for example, Xiaomi announced a 100W system that could charge a 4,000mAh battery in 17 minutes, while last year’s Mi 10 Ultra filled up in 23 minutes at 120W — though it did have a bigger 4,500mAh battery.

 

Oppo is another leader in this field, with its VOOC technology forming the basis of OnePlus’ Dash and Warp fast charging systems. Last year it demonstrated a 4,000mAh-in-20-minutes 125W system, though that was more than a year after Xiaomi’s supposedly faster 100W announcement, and the excellent current flagship Find X3 Pro charges at “only” 65W.

 

You can see Xiaomi’s latest effort here:

 

Progress is always welcome, and the thought of being able to fully charge a phone in eight minutes is certainly appealing. It’s worth noting, though, that these fast-charge systems always require proprietary chargers and cables, so they’ll mostly be used at home rather than in the emergency situations where they might be most useful. Ultimately, any given phone’s ability to make it through the day on its own juice will continue to be the more important factor for a while.

Xiaomi says it can now fully charge a phone in eight minutes at 200W

WhatsApp’s variable playback speed voice mail feature now rolling out

We reported in March that WhatsApp will soon offer the ability to play voice messages back faster than real-time, something already available in apps like Telegram.

The feature was uncovered by WABetaInfo, and looks something like this.

 

 

 

 

As can be seen from the screenshots, users will be able to easily switch from 1x to 1.5x to 2x regular playback speed by tapping on the speed label. The pitch of the voice is also preserved, so there is no Mickey Mouse effect.

AreaMobile now reports that the feature is rolling out to WhatsApp users, on mobile and also on the WhatsApp Web app, and should mean less time is wasted on long-winded correspondents.

WhatsApp’s variable playback speed voice mail feature now rolling out