Author Archives: JC Torres

It seems that Apple still isn't free of the curse of iOS 13 which, in retrospect, should have probably skipped the number. iOS 13.2 was released just a few days ago and, aside from bricking HomePod speakers, it seemed almost uneventful for iPhone and iPad owners. It was, perhaps a premature evaluation as a growing number of users are now complaining of the platform's aggressive memory management that is causing apps to be killed when left in the background even for just a short while.

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If you thought that OnePlus' "Never Settle" motto also applies to its release strategy, think again. For the first 3 generations, it seemed that it defied the business practice of launching multiple phones a year. That changed with the OnePlus 5T and then again with the OnePlus 7 this year when the company launched two phones at the same time (and two more under the "T" series). If you have been confused by that strategy, better brace yourself because the company's CEO revealed it won't be changing course any time soon.

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Of late, TV makers have been competing with each other on adding "smart" or AI-powered features to ride on the wave of trends in the general tech industry. Mostly that applies to things like upscaling to 4K or even 8K, HDR and color management, and frame interpolation. The overall goal is always the same, to offer the smoothest video output possible. That may work well for regular movies and films but game graphics can be a bit trickier to address. That's why LG will be pushing NVIDIA's G-SYNC technology to its most recent TV sets to make them suitable not just for binging but also for gaming on large screens.

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Virtual reality and even augmented reality seem to have taken a backseat to other tech news of late but that may be partly due to the growing maturity of the technologies. In other words, they're no longer as groundbreaking or as odd as they were at the start. That said, VR and especially AR are still pretty much out of reach of the majority of users and even developers, which is why Google is heavily pushing for the wide adoption of WebXR standards that are coming to Chrome starting with version 79 beta.

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This year's second and final major Windows 10 update may be about polish and fixes but it seems that Microsoft is gathering quite a number of exciting new features to dump on users next year. As always, Windows Insiders are users' first line of defense against potential file-eating or showstopping bugs. For their troubles, they also get first dibs on new features that have yet to be enjoyed by the rest of us, like the return of PowerToys' a Bluetooth-less Your Phone screen function, and expressive Japanese emoticons (kaomojis).

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PC gamers rejoice! The oldest existing digital game distribution platform isn't looking so ancient anymore. After almost two decades, Steam is finally rolling out the first major update to its game library. Some will probably already know what's in store when the update their Steam client and, like it or not, your library is about to get more social and crowded than ever.

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NVIDIA shook things up a bit when it launched its new SHIELD TV products. The Pro model, while looking exactly the same, got a much-needed spec bump while the non-Pro version sported a new and curious tubular design. Both, however, shared one thing in common beyond the Tegra X1 chip. Both had a redesigned and more powerful remote control that may have just gotten more useful thanks to a third-party button remapping app.

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Much of the coverage around Huawei's fate revolves around the negative effects of the US ban on its business, both in mobile and networking equipment. Despite almost all the predictions of doom, however, Huawei released almost unbelievably good numbers when it came to smartphone shipments. One reason may have been that the full effects of Google's absence from its phones have yet to be felt. Another is that, as market analysis company Canalys reports, Huawei's numbers skyrocketed in China last quarter, mostly at the expense of Xiaomi and Apple.

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It's no longer really surprising to hear about yet another malware on the rise on the Android platform. Sometimes, their threat can be genuinely frightening, especially when they manage to get past Google's automated security checks. The Xhelper malware being reported is, fortunately a bit different in that, this time, infected apps are being traced to unofficial sources outside Google Play Store. Unfortunately, the evolution of the malware over the past months may prove it to be just as dangerous and damaging if left unchecked.

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IKEA is both famous and infamous in the way it has changed the furniture market or at least the expectations of some homeowners. But while some credit it for taking a more modern spin on furniture, it only recently started making some of its products smarter by jumping on the IoT bandwagon. But now that it has a few such smart home products under its belt, the company is looking into making sure they work well together. It's next step, apparently, is to make a smart shortcut button whose sole use is to start a custom-made scene.

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NVIDIA's Turing GPU architecture has definitely put PC graphics cards on a new level, especially when it comes to data crunching capabilities need both for graphics as well as AI and machine learning. But while NVIDIA's RTX cards are all the rage on the high-end, some gamers might not need all that power and the literal and thermal costs it comes with. Some might need an almost inconspicuous gaming partner that has some secret superpowers behind the scenes. That seems to be the message that NVIDIA is giving with the launch of the new GTX 1660 SUPER and 1650 SUPER boards that get their powers via faster memory.

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After a brief stint with notches, Google returned to a full forehead in the Pixel 4 but not because of a change of heart. It needed more room for its array of front-facing sensors, including the Soli radar chip that enabled one of the phone's key features. Unfortunately, due to the nature of that technology, the Pixel 4's gesture-based Motion Sense isn't available in all markets. It might not matter in the near future since it apparently isn't available to developers outside of Google anyway.

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