The iPhone X Plus or the iPhone SE 2, both seem to be part of Apple's plans for 2018. But today's tips suggest that the smaller of these two units will be coming sooner than the larger. The iPhone SE 2, a device we've been waiting since basically right after the iPhone SE was released - it is probably well on its way, and it's more than likely going to continue to look utterly classic.
Apple is often praised for how fast and how consistent it is in updating its iPhones to the latest versions of iOS. Considering it only has a few models and has complete control, it's not that unfeasible. But even Apple has limits and all iPhones have an "expiration" date. For the iPhone 5S, that should have been last year with the release of iOS 11. Now it seems, however, that there's a small chance that it could actually see an iOS 12 update later this year.
Listing content on eBay is a tedious process that, at minimum, requires the user to select a bunch of items from drop-down menus. Here to simplify things is an update for the service's iOS app that adds a barcode scanner. With this feature, the user can scan the barcode on the product they want to list and the platform will take care of the rest.
There seems to be a unification trend among some of the biggest platform makers. Microsoft is pushing one Windows 10 to rule them all, albeit in multiple, sometimes inconsistent forms. Google seems to be grooming Chrome OS to accommodate not just Android but other OS as well. Not to mention Fuchsia OS that's still in incubation. Bucking that trend, however, is Apple, whose macOS and iOS remain separate and largely independent. And that's going to stay that way as far as CEO Tim Cook is concerned, because, according to him, it is not what users want.
AI, especially on our smartphones, is great and all but they have one somewhat worrying requirement. It requires devices to be online in order to send data to remote servers for processing. While technically understandable, it's always an opportunity for data privacy and security problems. It also doesn't have to be that way, considering how powerful our smartphones have become. Taking that into consideration, Microsoft is proudly announcing that its new Translator app for Android, iOS, and Amazon Fire devices can now take advantage of AI-powered translations even when offline.
It seems that Opera is in the process of shutting down the mostly free services that have actually resurrected its brand in the mobile market. Last year, it shut down the data monitoring and data saving Opera Max app. Now it's doing the same for Opera VPN, its free VPN service for mobile. The announcement ironically comes at a time when the use of and interest in VPNs are on the rise due to recent events in the tech industry.
The folks behind the August Smart Lock revealed a new feature Wednesday that allowed users to unlock their door with an Apple Watch. This app update for August Smart Locks does not require an iPhone nearby when the unlock switch is tapped. "The all-new native August Apple Watch app lets house 'Owners' with any generation of our August Smart Lock and any Apple Watch control their lock, without needing to carry their iPhone."
For a lot of people, the iPhone SE was a refreshing reprieve from the increasing screen size of mainline iPhones. At a time when it was becoming clear that larger iPhones were here to stay, Apple threw small phone lovers a bone by launching the 5-inch SE. Though Apple doesn't share iPhone sales numbers, it seems that the iPhone SE was a success, and today there might be some good news for folks who are hankering for a follow up.
All iPhone devices able to run ARKit can now play Holochess from the Star Wars universe. This is the game most famously played onboard the Millennium Falcon by R2-D2 and Chewbacca - but it also appeared in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and in analog format in Rogue One. Now, thanks to Lenovo, we're able to play anywhere.
Today we're having a peek at the current state of the mobile industry by-the-numbers to find your next smartphone. We're using the most recent sales numbers for the smartphone market in the United States, working forward from the most recent quarter, fast-forwarding to now. What we've got is a pretty good idea of what you'll most likely have in your pocket next.
There's no lack of historic locations to visit on out fair planet, but most of them are constantly under threat of disappearing. Whether due to disasters, war, or the eventual killer of all things, time, many of the amazing structures around today will be gone eventually. However, a company named CyArk has dedicated itself to archiving them before that happens. It's possible that you've never heard of CyArk before, but Google has, and now it's making CyArk's impressive maps of these structures and wonders available through its Arts & Culture app.
We're well out from the reveal and/or release of the next hero phones from Sasmung and Apple. But once we've moved past the last device in a brand line, there's no bad time to start hypothesizing about that'll come next. In this case, that means using the iPhone X (the first one), iPhone 8 Plus, Galaxy S9, Galaxy Note 8, and Galaxy S9 Plus to figure out what both companies might well be up against.