Gary Explains: Windows 11 debacle, Microsoft Linux, Qualcomm’s M1 killer & more https://img.youtube.com/vi/qrH4zEBmztc/maxresdefault.jpg

Just when you think summer has come and things in the tech world will slow down a little and allow you to enjoy a cool lemonade in the garden, that is when all the big stories happen. Windows 11, Microsoft's own Linux distro, Pegasus Spyware, Qualcomm's M1 Killer, OnePlus deliberately slowing down apps on the OnePlus 9, the Steam Deck, NVIDIA RTX Ray Tracing Running on an Arm-based PC, and more!

All things Microsoft

Microsoft has had a busy few weeks with the initial developer releases of Windows 11, plus a lot of pain and anguish for Windows 10 users who are discovering that they won't be able to upgrade to Windows 11.

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Microsoft remains unrepentant and insists that mandating you have at least an Intel 8th generation processor, or at least an AMD Zen 2 based processor, is still the minimum for Windows 11

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If you won't want to run Windows 11, then what are your alternative?

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Or maybe you want to run Microsoft's Linux distro called CBL-Mariner!

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Government sanctioned cyber-surveillance with Pegasus

The Guardian newspaper has highlighted the perils of government-sanctioned cyber-surveillance, following its exposé of Pegasus, a sophisticated piece of malware that is being used by authoritarian regimes to target activists, politicians, and journalists. So, what is Pegasus? How does it work? Can you protect yourself?

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RTX Ray Tracing on Arm-based PC, plus gaming on Linux with the Steam Deck

NVIDIA has demonstrated its RTX Ray Tracing tech on an Arm-based PC, no x86 chips here! The demo included Wolfenstein: Youngblood, running in real-time on a MediaTek Arm platform with ray-traced graphics.

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Valve has launched Steam Deck, a handheld gaming device with an AMD processor, RDNA 2 graphics, and a 7 inch touch screen. It is basically a handheld PC. Which OS does it run? Linux of course!

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I Found These Things Interesting, So Might You!

• How To Write Your First Game (video) - Learning to program by writing a game is a great way to improve your skills. Not only is it fun, but you get an almost instant reward for every line of code your add! Here is an introduction to Pygame Zero, so that you can write a game for Windows, macOS, Linux, and the Raspberry Pi.
• Qualcomm Says it Can Beat Apple's M series (video) - The new CEO of Qualcomm, Cristiano Amon, says Qualcomm can beat Apple's M series of processors, including the M1. He says Qualcomm can do it thanks to its recent acquisition of Nuvia, a company filled with former Apple engineers!
• OnePlus Is Intentionally Slowing Down Apps (video) - OnePlus is intentionally slowing down apps on the OnePlus 9 and the OnePlus 9 Pro. It seems that OnePlus has an aggressive battery saver that lowers the performance of apps like Chrome, WhatsApp, Twitter, Zoom, Instagram and others.
• The Zip file format is now 32 years old - You'd think being 32 years old the format would be well documented. Unfortunately, it's not.
• Towards Inserting One Billion Rows in SQLite Under A Minute - Current Best: 100M rows inserts in 33 seconds.
• The Art of the Romanian Haystack - Over the centuries this particular method of haystack building has become more refined to the point where the haystacks of Romania have their own unique characteristics.
• List of elevator special modes - Elevator special modes are modes for elevators usage in special situations.

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The first water-resistant Redmi Note is now official https://ift.tt/3C7PzSf

Credit: Xiaomi

• Xiaomi has launched the Redmi Note 10 Japan Edition in Japan.
• The phone is essentially a Redmi Note 10 5G with several major changes.
• It features a Snapdragon 480 SoC and IP68 design.

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Xiaomi’s Redmi sub-brand has released a ton of Redmi Note 10 series phones in 2021, namely the Redmi Note 10, Note 10S, Note 10 5G, Note 10 Pro (known as the Note 10 Pro Max in India), Note 10 Pro for China, and the Indian Note 10 Pro.

Now, the company is adding yet another variant to the mix with the Redmi Note 10 Japan Edition (h/t: Ishan Agarwal and GSMArena). This is essentially the Redmi Note 10 5G with several major tweaks.

The first big difference is the Snapdragon 480 5G chipset, replacing the budget Dimensity 700 5G SoC in the standard 5G model. The two chipsets share a very similar CPU layout (2x Cortex-A76 and 6x Cortex-A55), while the Qualcomm chip sports an Adreno 619 GPU instead of the Mediatek chip’s Mali-G57 MC2 graphics.

Credit: Xiaomi

Another major difference is that the Redmi Note 10 Japan Edition gains an IP68 design for water and dust resistance. We’ve previously seen splash resistance on budget Xiaomi phones, but this is the first time we’ve seen a full-fledged IP68 rating here. Finally, the phone has a 4,800mAh battery compared to the Redmi Note 10 5G’s 5,000mAh pack.

The two phones seem very similar otherwise, featuring a 6.5-inch 90Hz LCD panel (FHD+), 18W wired charging, a 48MP+2MP+2MP rear camera system, an 8MP camera in a center-mounted punch-hole cutout, IR blaster, 3.5mm port, and side-mounted fingerprint scanner.

There’s no word on pricing yet, but Japanese consumers can expect a 4GB/64GB model at launch. The standard Redmi Note 10 5G had a launch price of $199, so we’d put the Redmi Note 10 Japan Edition in a similar price window.

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A cheaper, ad-free YouTube Premium tier is now trialing in Europe https://ift.tt/2RC7MR8

• YouTube is testing a cheaper alternative to YouTube Premium.
• YouTube Premium Lite includes ad-free viewing but little else.
• It costs €6.99/month in a handful of European countries.

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If you subscribe to YouTube Premium just to rid your viewing experience of ads and nothing more, you’re probably paying too much. That’s seemingly a view shared by YouTube, too. The company is now trialing a cheaper Premium tier in a select number of European nations.

Dubbed YouTube Premium Lite, the package is currently available in seven nations across the Nordic and Benelux regions (h/t The Verge). Priced at €6.99/month ($8.30), it’s €5 cheaper than the standard Premium price in the region and the same price as the YouTube Premium plan for students.

Users still get ad-free YouTube across its various devices platforms, apps, and the Kids app for the lower price. But as its name suggests, it cuts a slew of features offered by Premium proper. For starters, background viewing and downloads are not available. Music lovers will miss some features, too. Ad-free YouTube Music is also not available, and you won’t be able to download tracks or play tunes in the background, either. Arguably, that price might still be pretty lofty for those only interested in removing ads.

More reading: Your guide to all the YouTube Services

There’s no word on if or when YouTube Premium Lite will arrive in other global markets. Considering that Google usually keeps pricing numbers consistent across currencies, the US version could cost just $6.99.

But what’s your opinion on YouTube Premium Lite? Would you ditch it for YouTube Premium proper? Be sure to vote in our poll above and drop a line in the comments. If you haven’t yet tried YouTube Premium but want to give it a go, be sure to sign up using the button below.

Sign up for YouTube Premium

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Daily Authority: 5G still iffy 📶 https://ift.tt/3aTLmXb

Good morning! My dog has been chewing the baseboard/skirting board and is firmly in the bad books! Though in the cute chapters of those books.

5G really just depends

5G still feels like the next big thing, even though we’ve been talking about it for years, and even Apple got on board with the iPhone 12 a few years after early Android attempts.

The problem is, 5G just doesn’t fare well in your city, most likely:

• Ookla, the owner of old faithful speedtest.net tested 5G availability and 5G speeds in 30 global cities, including New York City, Seoul, Amsterdam, Abu Dhabi, Vienna, Warsaw, Rome, Paris, Beijing, and Berlin.
• That was part of its Global 5G Benchmark Report Q1-Q2 2021 white paper, which is freely available.
• There were three main measurements made to assess the progress of 5G rollouts: 5G download speed, 5G upload speed, and network availability.
• It looks like this:

The good news on speed:

• 29 of the 30 cities had median download speeds of over 100Mbps (only Warsaw in Poland missed out).
• 13 of the cities showed median 5G download speeds above 200Mbps.
• For uploads, again, almost every city achieved median upload speeds between 15 Mbps and 40 Mbps.
• Which is all pretty good though you have to sift through the data to see the better download speeds in Seoul, the Middle East, and limited parts of Asia.
• Plus Helsinki. Thanks to Nokia being a local company, I'd guess.

The bad news on availability:

• But if 5G isn’t available, even in these major cities, is there any point talking speeds?
• Only two cities had above 50% availability, meaning “...that a majority of users in that city were able to spend a
• majority of their time on 5G networks.”
• Those two cities were New York and Amsterdam, while Seoul was next best at 48%.
• That’s all down to how hyperlocal 5G was, is, and will remain for the near future.
• Take this example where my colleague C. Scott Brown drove just five minutes from his house into the heart of Yale University to test Google Stadia on 5G for AT&T. That story is all about 5G availability problems.
• As for me in Berlin? Heh. If you look at the graph above, you’ll see Berlin with just a few percent of availability, and one of the lowest speeds when available, too.
• Curiously, Singapore, that tiny island city nation and bustling metropolis, ranks worse. It seems SingTel there only got going on 5G in early 2021, and won’t be finished covering the country until 2025.
• Convincing people to pay more for 5G is a chicken/egg situation: Who will pay more when availability is that bad? Why would networks build 5G if they can't extract more money, somehow?
• So, here we are...

Roundup

Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 leak spills tech specs and pricing information: $149-169? (Android Authority).

Honor’s got Google Mobile Services, and the first new flagship, the Honor Magic 3, could cram five rear cameras into a bulbous array (Android Authority)

Got an ancient phone? You won't be able to sign in to your Google account soon (which is probably a good thing for security) (Android Authority).

Apple Watch titanium models are largely unavailable as supplies seem to have just run out as a new Watch is likely around the corner... (Engadget). 

Square has agreed to buy out buy now pay later (BNPL) pioneer Afterpay (Reuters), an Australian tech company, for $29 billion, or about a quarter of Square’s worth. CEO Jack Dorsey liked the growth trajectory of Afterpay. There’s a but, though. I’ve followed this pretty closely for years: the somewhat sad reality of BNPL has been escaping conventional financial regulators, while clipping the ticket of both online and offline transactions, taking up to 6% off merchants. More troubling is that it’s questionable whether it’s good for the world: paying off something you buy in installments sounds great, but lots of people have fallen into debt traps (Choice).

Zoom agrees to pay $85M to settle a class-action lawsuit over alleged user privacy violations and Zoombombing (BBC).

There’s another ‘+’ on the market: Pearson+, the new wannabe Netflix for college textbooks (Gizmodo).

The Invisible Tech Behemoth: “How has Microsoft escaped the scrutiny of reinvigorated antitrust regulators?” (The Atlantic).

Over 100 warship locations have been faked in one year (Engadget).

IKEA's first smart air purifier is also a side table, starting at $129 for a free-standing model (Engadget). Also, how to keep your indoor air quality under control (Wired).

Heading into August, the dam finally broke on COVID-19 vaccine mandates (The Verge).

“All they had to do was check ClevelandGuardians.com and they didn’t do it” (Deadspin).

"What is LMDh and why are we so excited about sports car racing in 2023?" (Ars Technica).

Electric cars have much lower life cycle emissions, new study confirms (Ars Technica).

The first mainstream 8K rip has appeared on BitTorrent and it’s the 2020 Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony: 135GB (TorrentFreak).

“Chefs of Reddit, what’s one rule of cooking amateurs need to know?” (r/askreddit).

Monday Meme

A huge day for memes: a meme came true!

• That’s Brazilian swimmer Bruno Fratus, who won a bronze this week in the 50m freestyle.
• Fratus, by the way, is kissing his wife and coach, Michelle Lenhardt, who was also a top-level swimmer for Brazil.
• Fratus made it to the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, where he missed out on medals, and reportedly went into a bit of a tailspin and considered quitting the sport. 
• At Tokyo, he scored his first medal and boy, he was loving it.
• It’s fun that the meme happened but it’s brilliant that he got a medal!

Bonus: The Hong Kong Museum of Memes added a great one.

Cheers,

Tristan Rayner, Senior Editor

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Poll: Do you use custom ROMs on your Android devices? https://ift.tt/3jatl9K

One of the coolest things about Android is the ability to install custom ROMs on your device, replacing your default version of Android with a third-party take. These custom ROMs are traditionally made by groups of enthusiasts and offered a host of cool features.

We don’t seem to hear a lot about custom ROMs these days, although offerings like CopperheadOS, LineageOS, Paranoid Android, and Pixel Experience are still alive and kicking. So do you still use custom ROMs on your Android devices? Let us know below.

There are plenty of reasons to use a custom Android ROM, with the biggest reason being that you can update your device to a newer Android version if the device manufacturer abandoned it. This was a major issue in the early days of Android where even one OS update wasn’t guaranteed, and it’s still a notable challenge today. Many custom ROMs also offer a few features not available in stock Android and/or official Android skins.

We’ve also seen some ROMs offer a privacy or security focus, giving additional features in this regard or even stripping out Google integration. The /e/ OS distribution is one example of the latter.

We can think of a couple of reasons to steer clear of custom ROMs though, with the installation process being the biggest hurdle. Installing a ROM on your phone or tablet isn’t a trivial matter for the average consumer.

These ROMs don’t have official support either, so it’s not unheard of to see hardware issues, software problems, and a lack of polish on some distributions. Some apps (e.g. banking clients) also have issues with custom ROMs, although this can be overcome with workarounds.

In any event, do let us know whether you use custom ROMs via our poll above. And submit a comment below if you’ve got more to share on the topic.

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This upcoming flagship could cram five rear cameras into bulbous array https://ift.tt/3jgiM4K

• A new live image believed to be the Honor Magic 3 has leaked.
• The phone is set to sport a vast rear camera bulge packing at least five camera sensors.
• The firm’s latest true flagship will launch on August 12.

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Honor’s latest flagship smartphone is due in just under two weeks. While its official invite did tease the hefty rear camera bump of the Honor Magic 3, we’ve yet to see a full image of the phone. Now, a new live shot purporting to be the Magic 3 has leaked, seemingly confirming the phone’s relatively timid front and rear design.

The leak stems from @Rodent950, who has a fairly reliable track record when it comes to Huawei and Honor devices in the past.

The main feature of the device on show includes a large circular camera design, accentuated by a white colorway. The housing seemingly includes four sensors arranged in a ring. A fifth primary sensor sits in the middle for good measure, too. Notably, the camera design mirrors that showcased in Honor’s official invite.

Credit: @Rodent950 / Twitter

Around the front-left corner of the phone lies an oval camera cutout housing at least two sensors. Physical buttons for volume control and power sit on the phone’s right-hand side edge.

All in all, it’s a pretty conservative design for Honor’s Magic series, which usually packs some quirky elements. The Honor Magic 2 sported an all-screen mechanical sliding design, while the first Honor Magic was a conceptual AI-led device.

There’s likely a good reason for this change in design philosophy, though. While the Honor Magic 3’s cameras sit in different positions within the camera bump, the circular design is a stark callback to the Huawei Mate 40 series. Even the button placement and selfie camera layout are similar to Huawei’s device. Although Honor is no longer part of Huawei, this phone may have been in the works well before the split. Despite these similarities, the Honor Magic 3 will presumably launch with Google services in tow, like the Honor 50.

Honor Magic 3: What else to expect

Prominent leaker Digital Chat Station suggested that the Magic 3 could also pack a 6.76-inch OLED with 2,772 x 1,344 resolution, 66W wired charging, and the Snapdragon 888 Plus. Notably, Honor previously teased that it would use the “most premium Qualcomm chipset” in this device.

Honor will take the wraps off the Magic 3 on August 12, so expect a flurry of details to land then.

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You told us: Most of you want a Galaxy Note instead of the Galaxy S22 next year https://ift.tt/2I19R8V

Credit: Oliver Cragg / Android Authority

Samsung isn’t launching a new Galaxy Note this year and it is obvious fans are disappointed. Over 28,000 people have now signed a petition urging Samsung to launch the Galaxy Note series instead of the Galaxy S22 phones early next year.

We originally reported about the petition on Friday. At the time, it sought only 10,000 signatures and had received 8,000 of them. Evidently, more people hopped on the bandwagon over the weekend.

We also conducted a separate poll on Android Authority asking our readers if they would also like Samsung to replace the Galaxy S22 series with new Galaxy Note phones. Here’s how they voted in the survey.

Should Samsung replace the Galaxy S22 series with new Galaxy Note phones in 2022?

Results

64% of the 1,624 votes we received are in favor of Samsung replacing the Galaxy S22 series with a Galaxy Note series.

17.4% of the respondents feel ditching the Galaxy S22 for new Note phones isn’t a good idea.

Meanwhile, about the same number of people (17.9%) want Samsung to launch both the Galaxy S and Note series flagships next year.

Your comments

picpi: How could “everybody be happy” if I don’t get the updated s22 I’ve been looking forward to all year long?
You want a new Note, I want a new Galaxy S. How to make everybody happy at the same time? You say to skip the S and launch a new note, and everybody will be happy. How about we skip the Note and launch the S and everybody will be happy?

PhoenixWitti: Samsung is kidding itself if it thinks Note fans are going to go BACKWARDS in the camera department and integral S pen with any other models.

Mental Implosion: I love the S Pen, but I do not use it for more than just taking screenshots of a specific part of the screen. Not worth the extra amount I paid for the phone. Would prefer the pen baked in the S line.

Ryan: Why don’t they simply include an S Pen with the S22 Ultra? Isn’t that pretty much the only difference between the S Series and the Note Series? And less rounded corners?

daftrok: People want the phone to have a dedicated place to put the pen INTO it. So unless the Galaxy phones come with that as standard people want the Note. The other differentiating factor between the Note series and Galaxy series was that it was a six-month refresh. However, with the chip shortage and diminishing returns they just made the Galaxy as beastly as possible and are now going to make the Fold and Flip series the new Note replacement. The S-Pen will be an afterthought only available to slide into a little slot on a case instead of something you slide into the phone.

Adnan Pilav: Galaxy Note devices have always been better than their Galaxy S counterparts, they do however cater to a slightly different type of power user and at a higher base price which is understandable considering the additional tech and build quality they crammed into them. Bummer they’re trying to end Note production in favor for the foldable devices though. I can’t see myself trading my Note20 Ultra for an S or Fold device yet unless they integrate native S-Pen support and not think of it as an accessory like they tried with the S22 series this year.

Michael Alvarez: Foldables usually have flexible wiring tapes that don’t last long unlike regular slab phones. I would still prefer a Note compared to the S series. Hope they bring in much-advanced tech especially in the camera when it can take Moon shots and better night shots too.

Awang Patrick: The note series alone is what enticed me to Samsung…The best series ever…If they stop making note series I will go to the dark side.

John Perman: Release the Note at the same time as the S series. That way, people can have the choice to buy an S22 series or buy the Note, instead of waiting 5 or 6 months.
The Note is the top-tier device, which should include omitted features of the S series. MicroSD card slot, more base RAM and storage, dual USB-C ports or a 3.5mm jack and a notification LED. And of course, the S pen that slides back into the phone.

Dorothy MacDowell Pollock: I’d love a note without a curved screen. Love the current Note 20 Ultra but sometimes the curves are annoying.

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