Chromebooks had a terrific year in 2020, hitting a new global shipment record as the entire world shifted to an increasingly remote collaboration and learning lifestyle. Chromebooks were already popular in the education segment due to their affordable pricing and the relatively simple software experience, but their hardware sometimes proves to be a performance bottleneck, especially while on a video conference and running multiple other apps in the background. Google knows that all too well, and is looking to refine the Meet and Zoom experience on Chromebooks.
Video resolution or frame rate will be reduced slightly while sharing the screen to improve performance
“These Chrome OS updates will help students run video calls at home while they’re using apps like Google Classroom, Docs, Sheets, Slides and other tools, regardless of the device or the strength of their internet connections,” the company notes in its blog post. As for the actual improvements, Google is promising a smooth video calling experience while using advanced features such as grid view and running other useful apps at the same time. The company has already toned down the resource demands of audio and video streams to improve the video calling performance.
Google adds that it is at work to make Meet ‘adapt more intelligently to your device, your network and what you’re working on’. One of these adaptive upgrades includes slightly reducing the video resolution or frame rate while sharing the screen to ensure that the overall video calling performance is not affected by lags and stutters. And based on the bandwidth available, Google Meet will also temporarily turn off some video feeds, especially on a congested network.
The changes are meaningful, especially for low-end Chromebooks in the education segment
The search giant has also been working with the folks over at Zoom to carry over some of Google Meet’s aforementioned improvements to the eponymous Zoom video calling platform. The changes outlined above are not groundbreaking, but they will go a long way in improving the notoriously demanding group-based video calling experience that pushes the low-end hardware of cheap Chromebooks to its limits.
One of the advantages of being in the Apple ecosystem is the wireless syncing of devices at all times. Your iPhone and Mac are in sync to make your work life easier. Microsoft has tried the same approach with the Your Phone app on Android phones to sync them with your Windows machine. Soon, Chrome OS could establish more with its own syncing-with-phone alternative, Phone Hub.
Chrome OS’ Phone Hub feature was unearthed by XDA-Developers back in September. The feature is tipped to be built on Chrome OS that already offers integration with Android devices by introducing new capabilities. Now, a Reddit user by the username /u/Xenofastiq on the Chrome OS subreddit has reported that the Phone Hub feature is functional for them.
Image Credits: /u/Xenofastiq on Reddit
The OS already offers easy integration with your Android phone for things like messages, Smart Lock, and automatic WiFi hotspot. The Chrome OS Phone Hub will expand on these abilities of phone-to-Chromebook sync features by adding a new UI in the taskbar and adding notification mirroring. While the feature is in development, it seems like it is only working for a handful of users.
“Enable hotspot works, silence phone puts the phone on DND, and Locate Phone makes the phone ring. And then ofc, the most recent Chrome tabs, well, are the most recent I’ve seen on my phone. Oh and another thing, replying through the notifications on my Chromebook works perfectly so far for me,” reported the user.
As per the comments on the post, Phone Hub is only working for the users on the Chrome OS Beta and Dev channels. It is likely that Google is now testing the feature via server-side flags and is almost ready to roll it out to everyone. However, the user says they have run into some bugs, but outside of that “everything seems to work pretty well.”
Chromebooks and Chrome OS are continuing to evolve to be more like more powerful desktop computer operating systems. Today, Wacom announces that the “One by Wacom” graphics drawing tablet is now certified with the “Works with Chromebook” program from Google. The “One by Wacom” tablet is a small inexpensive $59.95 pressure-sensitive graphics tablet that can be plugged into other computers via a USB port in order to add drawing capabilities. Wacom’s Intuos, Intuos Pro, Cintiq, and Cintiq Pro will receive The Works With Chromebook certification in the coming months as well.
The Wacom graphics tablets will work in Chromebook drawing apps such as Clip Studio Paint, Concepts, and IBS Paint as long as you have Chrome OS version 87 which was released in November of 2020. All pen-pressure sensitive Android apps on Chrome OS should detect the Wacom tablets as well. It’s unclear if Google’s Chrome Linux subsystem also includes Wacom drivers for Linux-based graphics programs.
While Chromebooks don’t have nearly the amount of high-end graphics programs that you’d want to use a high-end Wacom pen tablet with, the “One by Wacom” and its Chrome OS support is mainly aimed at students and teachers. The pen can be very useful for drawing diagrams, illustrations, writing out math equations, etc. It will also be very useful for pointing out items in a presentation during a remote learning session.
The official news today begin with deals, but just a heads up, we’re gonna spend the next couple of shows focusing a lot on these in more than one segment, as there is just too much given the holidays. For all you Samsung fans in the audience, this one is for you as these continue to be crazy deals if you have an eligible device to trade in. The Galaxy Z Fold 2 is available for the same $1000 we mentioned yesterday, but now in both color options and the customizable hinge. The Note 20 Ultra is available for $550 and the regular Note 20 for a crazy $250. Moving on to the S Series, you can get the S20 for $390, the S20+ for $540 and the Ultra for $740, might makes them a tough pick given the crazy deal for the Note 20 Ultra. To end with Samsung, you can also get the S20 FE for $140 so, again, all these deals apply if you have an eligible device to trade in. Sticking to Samsung and their trade-ins, the Galaxy Watch 3 is also available for $140 and the Titanium version is available for $300. Pretty much half of for both of them. We also have deals on the Galaxy Buds, the Watch Active 2 and more in the description.
Samsung Chromebooks, Razer gaming accessories, and more on sale
Now let’s continue with segment 2, as companies keep rolling with the fact that we shouldn’t have to wait until Black Friday to get some good stuff. Let’s begin with audio products, starting with Sony’s new WH Mark 4 over the ear headphones which are $72 off, that leaves them for $278 shipped on Amazon. If you want earbuds, the WF Mark 3s are available for $62 off, that leaves those for $168 shipped. Sony’s Amazon Exclusive variant for some other over the ear headphones with a really complicated name are also $112 off, leaving those for a crazy $88 shipped. Finally, Amazon and Razer are going at it with their own Black Friday sale. For example. The Razer Huntsman Elite keyboard, which is one of my favorites, is $50 off, leaving it at $150. The Deathadder V2 is $20 off meaning you can get it for $50 and there’s a ton more in the links in the description, along with other Chromebook deals. No worries, I know you’re also looking forward to Apple deals, so tune in throughout the week as we’ll have those also detailed in one of the segments.
POCO M3 with 6000mAh battery, SD 662 SoC debuts in Europe
Now let’s switch to official news as another company having a great year is clearly POCO. They’ve done multiple launches so far, and today is yet another day for that. The company is back at it again as they just launched the new M3. It features a 6.53in FHD+ display, it’s powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 662, 4GB of RAM and up to 128GB of expandable storage. It runs Android 10 out of the box, and it also brings other features like dual speakers, a headphone jack (yes, that’s a feature now) and a dual SIM slot. Now, when it comes to the cameras, you get a triple lens setup that consists of a 48MP main sensor along with two 2MP sensors and the module kinda looks like the one on the Cyberpunk Edition of the OnePlus 8T. Why should you know about it? Well it sports a crazy 6000 mAh battery. What’s even crazier is that all that starts for just the equivalent of $149 but, you can get it for $129 this Black Friday.
The Galaxy Z Flip2 will not be unveiled alongside the Galaxy S21, will launch after Q1 instead
Now let’s switch gears to Samsung, but this time for the usual batch of rumors that typically happens when we’re already close to a launch. There’s been multiple reports and hints that the Galaxy S line will launch very early in the year, either January or February (more on that later). But, another product we’re expecting to come out with the S line is the next Z Flip but it looks like that won’t be the case. According to a new report from the Elec, we will be getting the Z Flip 2 until after Q1 and it won’t be joining the S21 line for January’s Unpacked Event. Apparently one reason this could happen is because Samsung is trying to spread out their device launches to keep them from driving sales to each one, especially since we won’t be getting a Note next year as, the S21 Ultra and the Z Fold 3 are getting an S Pen. Sammy will reportedly have 6M S21’s ready for the initial batch, the same as last year because Samsung is expecting foldables to drive more sales. Now, I wonder how they plan to get more sales, if not by dropping the price tag. We’ll see.
Story of the day:
Samsung Galaxy S21 has received BIS certification
And finally, the hottest news today have to do with Samsung, again, but more specifically on more details that pertain to the Samsung Galaxy S21 line. We keep getting more clues that this device will launch earlier than expected. The Galaxy S21 was recently certified by the Bureau of Indian Standards, which makes it pretty evident that Samsung is gearing up for that launch. Sadly, this exact certification does not give us any details on the phone internals and only the regular S21 appeared in the database. However, let’s still recap on the Ultra’s leaked specs as it’s probably going to be the one stealing all of the headlines. We’re expecting a 6.8in WQHD+ display with adaptive 120Hz refresh rate. It’ll be powered by the Snapdragon 875 or the Exynos 2100, a 5000 mAh battery, running One UI 3.1 with 5G and all the bells and whistles you could expect. When it comes to the cameras, you’re getting the 108MP main sensor, a 12MP ultra wide, and a two 10MP lenses, one with 3X optical zoom and one with 10X. And of course, this phone is also rumored to bring S Pen support. We’re expecting the event to happen some time around January 14th and the launch around the 29th.
We are getting tons of amazing deals thanks to Black Friday, and we have selected a couple that may interest you. First off, we find Samsung’s 13.3-inch Galaxy Chromebook with a $200 discount over at Best Buy. That leaves this Intel core 95 powered laptop with a 4K UHD touch-screen, 8GB RAM, and 256GB SSD for $799. However, you may want to go for HP’s offerings, as the 2-in-1 14-inch Touch-Screen Chromebook with an Intel Core i3 processor, 8GB RAM, and 64GB storage is getting a $250 discount, leaving it at $379. The 14-inch Chromebook is powered by an Intel Celeron processor, with 4GB RAM and 32GB storage, which can be yours for $149 with $140 savings.
There’s a vast selection of headphones for you to choose from in one of our previous posts, but you may also want to take a look at some of Sony’s offerings. For example, the Sony WH-1000XM4 are getting a $71.99 discount, leaving them at $278. Another interesting option would include Sony’s WHCH710N, which can be yours for just $88 after a $111.99 discount. If you’re not a fan of over-ear headphones, there are also some in-ear options. The Sony WF-1000XM3 are getting a $61.99 discount, leaving these earbuds for just $168, and the Sony WF-SP800N can also be yours for $148 with $51.99 savings.
We also have a massive selection of gaming accessories from Razer. First off, we will start by mentioning the keyboards that are currently on sale, such as the Razer Huntsman Elite gaming keyboard, which can be yours for $150 after a $50 discount. Next up, we have the Razer BlackWidow Elite Mechanical keyboard for $85 with $85 savings. The Razer Huntsman Tournament Edition is selling for $100 with a $30 discount, the Razer Ornata V2 can be yours for $70, and the Razer Huntsman gaming keyboard in Quartz Pink is up for grabs at $120 with the same $30 discount.
If you’re looking for a new gaming mouse, we also have some picks for you, as the Razer Basilisk v2 wired gaming mouse is getting a $15 discount, leaving it at $65. The Razer DeathAdder v@ is also on sale, and it’s selling for just $50 after a $20 discount. And the Razer Naga Trinity can also be yours for $70 with a $30 discount. Of course, any of these gaming mice would look better when paired with a Razer Goliathus Extended Chroma Gaming Mousepad, which can be yours for $50 with a $10 discount.
Today’s deals include Apple’s previous-generation MacBook Air for $899 with $100 savings. This will get you a new laptop with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage. If you want to spend more money, you can get a new 16-inch MacBook Pro starting at $2,149 with $250 savings, which gets you 512GB SSD and 16GB RAM with a 2.6GHz Intel Core i7 processor. Finally, Apple’s 21.5-inch mid-2020 iMac with 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD, and a 2.3GHz Intel Core i5processor can be yours for just $1,199 with a $100 discount.
We continue with the Motorola RAZR 5G, which is getting a $400 discount, leaving it at just $1,000 in its unlocked version that comes with 256GB storage and 8GB RAM under the hood. We get more Android phone deals, as the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE is getting a $151 discount, leaving it at $549, and you get an unlocked device with 128GB storage. The Moto Edge with 256GB storage and 6GB RAM can be yours for just $400 with $300 savings, or the Galaxy A21 for $500 with $100 savings in its 128GB version.
Chromebooks are also on sale, as we get $200 savings on the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook with an Intel Core i5 processor, with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage for $799. The ASUS Chromebook Flip is getting a $40 discount, which leaves it at $530. And there are three more options from Acer. The Acer Chromebook 331 is available for $169 with 4GB RAM and 32GB storage, down from its regular $229. The Acer Chromebook 715 with 4GB RAM and 128GB storage can be yours for $349, with $150 savings
Finally, the new Apple Watch Series 6 is getting a $120 discount in its 44mm GPS + Cellular version, leaving it at $629, which is less expensive than the 40mm version with a $40 discount, which leaves it at $659.
MediaTek has unveiled MT8192 and MT 8195 chipsets for the upcoming Chromebooks. While the former is designed on the 7nm process, the MT 8195 is built on the 6nm process for premium devices. Both of them integrate an AI processing unit (APU) to power a wide range of voice and vision-based applications.
The tech is designed to seamlessly process voice ID recognition and voice control, speech and image recognition, speech to text, live translation, object recognition, background removal, noise reduction, image and video segmentation, gesture control, and Google AR Core-based enhancements, all in real-time. Both chipsets also have a dedicated audio digital signal processor (DSP) to enable ultra-low-power voice wakeup (VoW) for voice assistants.
They come with a high dynamic range (HDR) image signal processor and hardware depth engine built into the chipsets. This gives device makers the option to integrate super-large 80MP 4-cell cameras, single 32MP cameras, or dual camera setups up to 16 MP + 16 MP to bring Chromebooks sharp and crisp HDR for video conferencing.
MediaTek’s MT8195, built on the 6nm TSMC process, integrates an octa-core CPU with four Arm Cortex-A78 cores and four power-efficient Arm Cortex-A55 cores. It also integrates MediaTek’s APU 3.0, providing up to 4 TOPS performance. It comes equipped with the 5-core Arm-Mali G57 GPU and quad-channel 2133MHz LPDDR4X memory. The MT8195 also supports up to three simultaneous displays. It comes with support for Dolby Vision, 7.1 surround sound audio and a Codec AV1 hardware video accelerator. Additionally, AV1 hardware decoding uses less data while still offering stunning graphics and smooth video experiences.
MediaTek’s MT8192 integrates an octa-core CPU with four Arm Cortex-A76 cores and four Arm Cortex-A55 to provide an ideal balance of power and efficiency. There is an APU 2.0 that provides up to 2.4 TOPs performance. The chipset also packs a powerful five-core Arm Mali-G57 GPU and 2133MHz LPDDR4x and UFS 2.1 storage. It MT8192 supports wide quad high definition (WQHD) displays with standard 60Hz refresh-rates or FullHD+ displays with up to 120Hz refresh-rates for super-fast responsiveness. Additionally, the chipset can support two Full HD displays simultaneously.
Both chipsets also integrate 4K HDR video decoding to provide excellent video quality while also maximizing battery life, allowing users to watch their favorite content for longer. In addition, the MT8192 and MT8195 support PCI-Express Gen 3 and USB 3.2 Gen 1.
Chromebooks powered by the MT8192 will hit the market in Q2 2021. The MT8195 will power premium Chromebooks, smart displays, tablets and other smart devices, which will hit the market at a later date.
In June, Google announced that Windows apps will soon be made available to Chrome OS through a third-party partnership. Now, it has launched Parallels Desktop for Chromebook Enterprise that provides access to Windows apps on Chromebooks. These users will be able to purchase the app for $69.99 per user. Will the help of Parallels Desktop, Chrome OS will now boot a full version of Windows inside a virtual machine.
This is still an initial release, and a deeper Chrome OS and Windows app integration will come over time. As of now, everything happens in a window that has two rows of buttons with various controls. These can be resized. Plus, full touch and keyboard input is supported. Moreover, the cursor transforms depending on what OS you’re hovering over.
The Windows 10 experience on Chromebooks is accessed from the Parallels Desktop icon in the bottom shelf. You can also enter fullscreen mode to hide the underlying operating system. Parallels and Google have worked together to enable features like a shared clipboard, shared user profiles, and custom folders. With the help of these features, you’ll be able to share files between the Windows instance and Chrome OS. It will also allow web links in the Windows instance to open the Chrome browser, which is the main part of Chrome OS.
The Verge reports, printers that are supported in Chrome OS will also be available in Windows, but webcams, microphones, and any other USB devices won’t be supported inside Windows as of now. However, Parallels is working to enable USB peripherals and webcams in a future update.
The new feature is limited to ‘power users’ – those have machines that ship with Intel’s Core i5 or Core i7 processors and 8GB of RAM for devices with a fan or 16GB of RAM for fanless models. To configure devices, it will require Windows 10 license from IT admins who will be able to use Google’s Admin console to enable Parallels on compatible devices.
Apple’s MacBook Air, previous generation iPad Pro and more devices are on sale today
The official news today begin with deals, and surely Prime Day ended last night, but it seems the madness is not necessarily over as there are some more deals left. The MacBook Air is currently $150 off, this leaves the entry level, 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage variant for $850. If no worries, even if specs are decent, those of you wanting more storage will also find a good deal for that in the links. It’s a checkout discount so, first read $50 and then you’ll get the extra hundred. The 2017, 10.5in iPad Pro is $299 off, leaving the Wi-Fi + Cellular, 64GB variant for $480 shipped. Finally, he Galaxy S20+ is $203 off, leaving the 128GB of storage variant for $997. We also have deals on the Exynos Galaxy Note 20, Marshall Headphones, the iPad Mini and more in the links in the description.
Google is promising nine years of Chrome OS updates for a few Chromebooks
Let’s shift the spotlight on to Chromebooks, because yeah why not and especially now that we’re all working from home. I actually didn’t know that most, if not all Chromebooks come with an Expiration Date which is called “Auto Update Expiration.” Once it can no longer receive any Chrome OS updates, well that’s it. Thing is Google is now giving some Chromebooks 9 years of guaranteed support, which I’m not sure if existed before, so talk about longevity, though it might only apply to new models. Recently Google updated their support page, and Android Police noted that the latest HP and Lenovo Chromebooks that came up would get support until June 2029. At the moment it’s only available for these two model and, a common factor between these two Chromebooks is that they bring AMD processors so, let’s see if Google adds this for more Chromebooks as it would make the experience better knowing you’ll be able to have this device for a pretty long time. That being said, seriously who holds on to a computer for 9 years? The furthest I’ve gone is 5.
OnePlus announces a Cyberpunk 2077 Edition of the OnePlus 8T
Now let’s move on to OnePlus as, yesterday we got the 8T and the Buds Z but it looks like the company has some other things up their sleeve. The official OnePlus handle on Weibo has announced that there will be a Cyberpunk 2077 Edition of the OnePlus 8T. It will go on pre-orders on November 4th but, the problem is that it’ll only be available in China. Really, we’re covering it because it’s their first collaboration after their contract with McLaren ended, so we have some hopes that we will get more Limited Edition phones in the future. Another thing we were expecting yesterday was the OnePlus Watch. Now, the company just tweeted out a new teaser with some original sketches from the Watch that date back to 2015 and said: More things coming to the OnePlus Ecosystem, it’s just a matter of time. So yeah, we’ll probably be getting it with the OnePlus 9, we just hope they price it like those Buds Z.
Samsung takes it against Apple for ditching power adapters after iPhone 12 launch
Now, let’s move on to Apple for the rest of the show. Umm, I’m just going to start this segment by asking, do you guys remember this? You know, that Ad where Samsung mocked Apple about not bringing a headphone jack? Well, that same ad was removed once the Galaxy Note 10 came out.. With no headphone jack. Well, they’re at it again, they are posting pictures of their charging bricks on social media saying “included with your Galaxy”. The caption also adds, your galaxy gives you what you are looking for, from the most basic as a charger, the best camera, battery, performance and a 120Hz display. The real question here is, how long do you think it will take before Samsung remove the charging brick from the box. They did already remove the earbuds, and speaking of that, we’ve learned that the lack of earpods for iPhones doesn’t apply in France for some reason. Anyways, based on the headphone jack story, I give them one to two years.. Cause that’s just what competition does.
New iPad Air may be getting closer to launch, as it receives FCC approval
Now let’s talk about an unreleased product that’s already official, cause yes, that seems to be the Apple thing to do lately. Last month Apple introduced the redesigned iPad Air but, they simply said they were launching it “at some point in October”. Well, the cellular models for this devices just went through the FCC showing us the usual things like the model number and their classifications. Several rumors suggest that we’ll be getting these on Friday, October 23rd. These iPads will start at $599 for the Wi-Fi models, with the cellular models starting at $729. I’ve been using the regular 10.2in iPad which has so far been great, make sure you watch that review, but obviously this device brings the A14 that the iPhone 12 is launching, so that’s why I really can’t wait to give it a try.
Story of the day:
Early iPhone 12 Pro benchmarks show up to 25% performance gain over iPhone 11 Pro
And Finally, for the hottest news today, let’s actually continue talking about that A14 Bionic, and how it impacts the iPhone 12 that launches for pre-orders tomorrow. We have some new early benchmarks that belong to the iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max. These benchmarks were conducted on Geekbench and just keep in mind that, all four iPhones are rocking the same processor so, when the ones for the regular models come out the main difference here should depend on the RAM. The 12 Pro lists a single-score of 1597 and a multi core score of 4152, that is 26% faster than the iPhone 11 Pro which listed 1327 and 3289. The 12 Pro Max listed 20-26% faster than the 11 Pro Max did. Actually, the 12 Pro’s performance is roughly in line with the iPad Air which also brings the A14 Bionic. In typical Apple fashion, Cupertino is marketing these as the fastest smartphone chip ever and sure we know that the new camera improvements are impressive but usually, iPhones don’t really take full advantage of it, at least not on your day to day use. And that’s mainly the reason for today’s question..
Google has announced a host of new features coming via the latest Chrome OS update that will make life easier for Chromebook users. The first one is an improved video recording experience. The default camera app on Chromebooks will now let users pause and resume while recording videos. Additionally, videos are recorded in mp4 format, which makes it easier to edit them in an dedicated app and share them as well.
The other notable feature is Wi-Fi Sync. It automatically saves the Wi-Fi password when you log in to your personal profile on a Chromebook. “Your Wi-Fi passwords become a part of your profile’s keychain, so they follow you regardless of which Chromebook you are using,” says Google. Essentially, this feature will prove to be quite helpful for households that share multiple Chromebooks and makes managing Wi-Fi passwords much simpler.
Additionally, Google has introduced a new mic slider in the Quick Settings panel that will make it easier for users to quickly control the mic volume during video or voice calls. The search giant has also improved the search model behind the search bar in Chromebook Settings section. It now shows results for matching settings and related suggestions when users type a keyword or query. Google says users will soon be able to perform a system-wide search from the Launcher itself.
When it comes to Windows-powered laptops, there is a wide array of designs and form factors to choose from, with the latest innovation being dual-screen laptops. However, Chromebooks have seen little to no experimentation. But things are about to change, as recent code submissions suggest Google is working on a dual-screen Chromebook (via 9to5Google).
The device in question is codenamed ‘Palkia’ and the code submission on Chrome Gerrit clearly mentions a second touchscreen on the device. There is also the mention of a tablet mode, however, it is unclear if we are talking about a clamshell form factor with two inner display or a conventional foldable design with a touchscreen display on the outside as well as inside.
However, a developer’s comment suggests that ‘Palkia’ is not an OEM device, which means this is just a prototype device made to test the waters and we may not necessarily see a foldable Chromebook with dual screens in the near future. However, it is a sign that Google is not averse to the idea of such a device and is experimenting with the software side of things for such hardware.
We start today’s deals with the Samsung 15.6-inch Chromebook that’s getting a $50 discount over at Best Buy. This Chromebook comes with an Intel Celeron 4GB RAM and a 128GB storage space, and it can be yours for just $329.
Next up is the Garmin Vivoactive 3 smartwatch. This device comes with GPS built-in, storage for up to 500 songs for music on the go, well if you connect a pair of Bluetooth headphones or earphones. You can currently save $21 off its regular $219 price, so you would only have to pay $198 for yours.
The Amazon Echo Show 5 is also on sale. You can get yours for $60 after a $30 discount. You can also get this device bundled with a Blink mini indoor smart security camera with motion detection for $65, and bear in mind that this bundle usually goes for $125, so you would be saving $60.
You can also get the ASUS Chromebit CS10 Stick Desktop PC, which turns any HDMI display into a computer with 16GB RAM, and it comes with 100GB Google drive space. You can get one for $70 right now since it currently has a $19 discount.
If you’re still looking for the perfect gift for Father’s Day, the Panasonic Hybrid Wet Dry shaver is available for $70 after a $30 discount. You get a quiet cordless razor with tons of power and accessories to trim or completely shave your beard or mustache.
The DEWALT Router, Plunge base with variable speed, is also getting an interesting discount. Usually selling for $268, you can currently get it for $205, which means $63 savings.
The Google Nest Hub Max, Echo show and more are on sale today
Deals. Yes it is father’s day and let’s just say that today we’re focusing on some home entertainment along with fashion. We have a lot of deals on smart speakers today. Let’s start off with the Google Nest Hub Max which has a $30 discount, leaving it at $199 shipped. The Amazon Echo Show is also $50 off, which means you can get it for $180 shipped. The Fire TV Stick is $10 off, leaving it at $30 shipped. Finally, the Fossil FB Hybrid Stainless Steel watch is $76 off which leaves it at $99 for the Silver variant. We have more deals on Apple’s Smart Keyboard, Amazon Fire Tablets and more.
HTC returns with the launch of Desire 20 Pro and U20 5G mid-range smartphones
Well, we can finally say that HTC is back but, not in the way we were hoping. The company just launched two new smartphones, the Desire 20 Pro and the U20 5G which are both mid-rangers. The Desire 20 Pro brings a 6.5in LCD display, the Snapdragon 665 SoC, 6GB of RAM, 128GB of expandable storage and quad cameras at the back including a 48MP primary sensor. The U20 5G brings a 6.8in display that’s also an LCD, a Snapdragon 765G, 8GB of RAM and 256GB of expandable storage and pretty much the same camera array as the Desire 20. Both of these bring a 5000 mAh battery and Android 10 out of the box. They’re were currently only launched in Taiwan and HTC didn’t specify on price and availability.
ASUS ROG Phone 3 to come with maxed-out specs like 6,000mAh battery, 16GB RAM and more
The ASUS ROG Phone 3 just went through China’s TENAA certification revealing some more of the specs. According to the listing, it will feature a notch-less 6.59in LCD display running at 120Hz. I know, today is the day of LCDs. It’ll bring the Snapdragon 865 SoC, up to 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM and up to 512GB of UFS 3.0 storage. It will also bring a 64MP main camera as well as a 13MP selfie shooter. Some of the other features more focused on the gaming side are a 6000 mAh battery, front facing speakers with a dual-smart amplifier, quad mics with noise cancellation, Hi-Res Audio and more. Now, who’s gonna complain about the lack of an OLED in this launch? Let us know in the comments.
Windows apps coming to Chrome OS, thanks to Google’s new partnership with Parallels
And let’s be honest, as much as Chromebooks are cool and affordable, Android apps haven’t really solved much of its problems because hey, the were designed for phones. Well, Google is apparently working on a solution to bring Windows apps to Chrome OS. The company is partnering up with Parallel which is a well-known name which let’s you run cross-platform solutions across different operating systems. In Google’s own words, this partnership will allow them to seamlessly add full-featured Windows Apps, including Microsoft Office to Chromebook Devices. They didn’t go into detail on how they plan to make this happen but, more details and other technical aspects will be revealed in the coming months. This should reduce the cost of hardware for Chromebook users by adding this cross-platform functionality. Thing is, you do realize how much of a problem this might end up being for Windows computer sales, right?
Massive Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 leak reveals all major specs and features
And how about if we talk about the successor to what’s currently my favorite watch. SamMobile just recovered every spec you can think of when it comes to the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3. We’ll be getting two variants, a 41mm one with a 1.2in display and a 45mm variant with a 1.4in display, both using Gorilla Glass DX. They will bring a physical rotating bezel and the 41mm variant will bring a 247 mAh battery while the 45mm gets a 340 mAh. Both variants will bring 1GB of RAM and 8GB of storage, running Tizen OS 5.5. You’ll be able to choose between Stainless Steel and Titanium variants. They’ll pack a heart rate monitor, an ECG sensor, they are also IP68 certified and they’ll obviously bring LTE and GPS.
Story of the day:
New 5G iPhone 12 could start a new super-cycle for Apple
And finally the hottest news today have to do once again with the iPhone 12, but this time with a roadmap that actually makes us happy. I think we all need a little normalcy in our lives, and that might be the case with Apple’s next launch. We have some new insight on the iPhone 12’s launch from a different analyst. According to him, Apple’s supply chain has now normalized after it was disrupted by the pandemic and it is ready for the September launch. Even if we have some reports claiming that the iPhone 12 might roll out like the iPhone X did, his report claims that we’ll get the normal September announcement with the phones being available for launch in October. He also expects the 4 different models to launch with 5G but, Apple will apparently make different 5G models for the non-US variants which won’t support mmWave. He also claims that even though people believe there’s lower demand this year, Apple might enter a super cycle with 350M of the current 950M iPhone users are in the upgrade window. These new lower price tags on the 5G phones will make it easier for people to upgrade. He also mentioned the fact that the EarPods won’t be on the box anymore, driving more sales for the AirPods. As for WWDC the report mentions that we’ll be getting iOS 14, the transition to ARM based Macs, and some “breadcrumbs” on the Apple Glasses or other AR products.
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Google is finally showing Chrome OS machines some extra love, rather than keeping their status quo as just another platform for Android apps. First spotted by Chrome Unboxed, Google Play Store now has a dedicated Premium section that exclusively hosts games that are suited for the Chromebook form factor too, and not just mobiles.
The Google Play Store describes the titles listed under the new Premium section as “games that play well on Chromebooks”. However, it appears that the change is rolling out via a server-side update, as the Premium section is yet to appear on my HP Chromebook at the time of writing this.
Just to make things clear, all these games are playable on your Android phone without a hitch. The folks over at XDA-Developer have compiled the complete list of Chromebook -loving games that are currently listed under the Premium section on the Google Play Store, all of which are listed below:
The 10.2-inch iPad, the iPad mini, Fire HD tablets and more on sale today
Deals. Amazon has Apple’s latest 10.2in iPad is currently $100 off, leaving the Wi-Fi + Cellular 128GB variant for $450 shipped. The iPad Mini has a $50 discount, leaving the 64GB Wi-Fi variant for $350. For those of you looking for a laptop, the Surface Laptop 3 is $170 off, which leaves the Intel Core i7, 16GB of RAM, 256GB of SSD for $1429. Finally, the Echo Show 5 is $40 off which leaves it at $50.
Buy 10.2-inch iPadBuy iPad miniBuy Fire HD 7Buy Fire HD 8Buy Fire HD 10Buy Microsoft Surface Laptop 3Buy Amazon Echo Show 5
Samsung will fix the battery issues on its Galaxy Chromebook
If you bought a Samsung Galaxy Chromebook, you may have been experiencing some battery issues. The main problem with it is that Samsung tried to go too thin and light and the battery has issues keeping up with the display and the speed. Samsung has acknowledge the issues and is working with Google on some type of fix. They haven’t specified but it’ll most likely come in a software fix that’ll have to sacrifice a little of display quality to get longer battery life or bring new battery saving options. We’ll keep you posted once it happens.
Could this be the Nokia 9.3 PureView?
We’ve been hearing rumors that Nokia is working on the 9.3 PureView for later this year, and now we got some concept renders based on the rumors. The device looks like the Lumia 1020 down to the yellow color variant, in the circular camera module we get to see 5 cameras tuned by Zeiss. These are expected to be a 108MP main camera, a 64MP sensor, a wide angle camera, a telephoto lens and a macro lens. The device brings a 120Hz display which is expected to bring a 32MP selfie camera under the display. Other specs . include the Snapdragon 865, 8GB of RAM, 256GB of storage and a 4500 mAh battery.
LG Velvet was caught in a Korean store, full specs revealed
I’m sure you are all familiar with the LG Velvet as we get new leaks of it every day. Now, we have some new pictures and a hands on video as the phone is being showcased in a store in Korea. Most of the specs have been revealed already but the video shows some new ones, including an IP68 certification, AI powered speakers and the most important one, ASMR video recording with gimbal like stabilization. We should be getting this phone in 3 days now.
Google Pixel 4a camera review video is out even before its launch
Pixel 4a visits Geekbench, launch imminent
A Pixel launch isn’t complete without the incredible amount of leaks we get before. For starters, the Pixel 4a just passed through a Geekbench benchmark listed with 6GB of RAM and the Snapdragon 730 SoC. But we also have a full on camera review from the same guys who shared the samples last week. The camera review doesn’t really show the phone but he does reveal that the rear sensor is a 12.2MP sensor and the front is an 8MP sensor. We have a BUNCH of new samples from the video that show low light pictures, macro shots and more with pretty good quality, it is a Pixel after all.
Story of the day:
Apple’s 13-inch MacBook Pro refresh adds Magic Keyboard, 10th Gen Intel CPU starting at $1,299
Apple just launched a brand new update to the 13in MacBook Pro in two variants basically. Starting off with the lower end variant, it has two thunderbolt ports and even if Apple promises the 10th gen Intel processors, these lower end variants have the same old 8th Gen processors. It has Wi-Fi AC instead of Wi-Fi 6, the same display, same bezels, same speakers but it finally brings the new Magic Keyboard with the scissor switches. It starts at 8GB of RAM and goes up to 16GB, and 256GB of SSD which goes up to 2TB. This model starts at $1299. Moving on to the expensive, higher tier variants: they also bring Wi-Fi AC, the same display and bezels, the same speakers but these bring the 10th Gen Intel processors, up to 32GB of RAM and up to 4TB of storage. It also brings the new Magic Keyboard and 4 thunderbolt ports. This model starts at $1799.
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