This week ASUS launched a new ASUS Chromebook Flip CX5 (CX5400), ready to roll with the newest version of Chrome OS and up to an 11th Generation Intel Core i7 processor. This device has up to Intel Irix Xe graphics and a proven set of heavy duty chassis. This machine works with US MIL-STD 810H standards so it's ready for basic bumps and drops.
Motorola has been flooding the market with affordable Moto G and Moto E phones but not all of them make it to all markets, especially the US. Earlier this year, Motorola expanded its lineup with the latest version of its stylus-toting Moto G Stylus which generated some confusion because of earlier leaks. It turns out that the company did have a slightly better version of that phone in the works and it's coming out as the Moto G Stylus 5G, exclusively for the US this time.
When rumors about Motorola's smartphone lineup for early 2021 started this year, there was a slight bit of confusion regarding its stylus-toting model. The Moto G Stylus that was first leaked and which looked more interesting never came to pass and was later rumored to launch under a different name. It turns out that there may have been some truth to this and the very same Moto G Stylus 2021 will be coming exclusively to the US with 5G capabilities.
This week the Acer ConceptD Creator Notebook lineup got updates to the newest in new processors from Intel and NVIDIA. If you've never seen these notebooks before, they're Acer's best and brightest notebooks and convertable notebooks made for creative output. Today we're looking at the ConceptD 3, Concept D3 Exel, ConceptD 5, and ConceptD 7 Ezel. The "Ezel" notebooks can convert to tablets and work with their own styli, the others are made to be highly capable traditional notebooks.
Microsoft has launched a new version of its Surface Pen stylus for schools, with the Classroom Pen 2 promising to be half the price as well as harder to lose. The new Pen 2 is intended to be used with the Surface Go and Surface Pro, and now matches the regular Surface Pen with a silver finish.
Samsung will be unveiling its most powerful Galaxy in two weeks but that won't be a smartphone as some might have hoped. Samsung's most powerful Galaxy phone, however, might come earlier in July but it's already proving to be a mixed bag. The Galaxy Z Fold 3 will, of course, be interesting because of its expected support for the S Pen but it might not have a silo similar to the Galaxy Note it will replace this year.
In the earliest days of the iPad Pro, some developers have found ways to take advantage of the Apple Pencil and turn the tablet into something like a Wacom Cintiq for Macs and even some for Windows. With Apple's introduction of its own Sidecar utility, the likes of Duet Display and Astropad were almost threatened to become redundant but the latter has now made itself even more relevant by target another audience, ones that own an iPad but use a Windows PC instead of a Mac.
There's a lot to talk about the Galaxy S21 series, mostly because of how much Samsung packed into the phones. That includes price tags that are almost too good to be true if you know Samsung. That said, there are also things that Samsung removed, the most notorious of them being the charger in the box as well as the microSD card slot. That's not the end of the story, of course, and Samsung still had a lot to reveal off-stage.
Samsung has brought the S Pen to the Galaxy S21 Ultra, but you'd be forgiven for being confused as to just how stylus and smartphone work together. Familiar from the Galaxy Note series, the S Pen isn't being bundled with the new S21 Ultra, and nor indeed is it the same stylus we're familiar with. In fact, if you're coming from a recent Note, there may be some features you miss.
One of the arguments often thrown against using a stylus on a phone is the smaller screen size compared even to the smallest tablets. While smartphones these days are huge compared to the very first iPhones that were used to mock the first Galaxy Note, writing much less drawing on them even with a stick can still be a cramped experience. One solution would be to actually make the phone larger and that seems to be the strategy Motorola will be using for this year's Moto G Stylus successor.
The phone stylus is back in the news thanks to rumors and expectations that the Galaxy S21, or at least the Galaxy S21 Ultra, will support one. While Samsung is pretty much the most well-known manufacturer that still clings to the input device, it isn't the only one. That said, LG's Stylo line, which has undergone one or two name changes, isn't exactly that remarkable in comparison but it seems that its 2021 iteration could have at least one upgrade that makes it a little more interesting.
One of the concepts associated with a phone that can unfold like a notebook is the ability to use it almost like a notebook, including the ability to write on it with a stylus. Due to the limitations of early flexible screens, that wasn't exactly possible or even advisable. The Galaxy Z Fold 3 is rumored to be the first of its kind to be strong enough to use a stylus on. Everything, however, has a price and the Galaxy Z Fold 3 will be paying for it more than just literally.