Nintendo may be riding high on Switch success right now, but if its new multi-screen game system patent is anything to go by, it could have even more outlandish designs in the pipeline. The console-maker has always been eager to push the limits of device design, after all: witness not only the Switch, with its docking station for both handheld and living room use, but the tablet-like Wii U before it.
Being an early adopter of a new device or technology can have its pitfalls, as some Galaxy S9 and S9+ owners are discovering. Though the phones have only been available for about a week now, users have already been reporting a big problem: dead zones on the display. There have multiple posts about this issue both on Reddit and on the Samsung forums, so it seems that may not be an isolated problem.
Apple’s biggest changes to its MacBook range in 2018 may be focused on overhauling the processors inside its notebooks, but it’s making the most of one of its most misunderstood features that I really hope changes this year. I was one of what seemed like only a few people - outside of Apple, at least - upbeat about the Touch Bar when it first arrived on the MacBook Pro in 2016, though even then it was clear there was room for improvement. Apple’s concept of a contextually changing array of shortcuts placed within easier reach of your hands on the keyboard had potential, but its first implementation felt cautiously tentative.
Google has snapped up the tech to make full-screen smartphones without an iPhone X style notch, using the touchscreen itself as a speaker. As phone manufacturers hunt ways to make even greater percentages of the front of their devices display, the trend has forced some creative thinking around how to accommodate the other components that would traditionally be found in the bezels.
Google is hunting multi-touch talent for future Google Home hardware, reigniting speculation about a touchscreen-enabled rival to Amazon's Echo Show and more. The company currently has two smart speakers - the Google Home and Google Home Mini - with a third in the pipeline. The Google Home Max is expected to launch later in December.
The ThinkPad 25 from Lenovo is an extreme rarity in today's world of electronics constantly on the cusp. The ThinkPad 25 is wish fulfillment for fans of the original, made real again here in 2017 with newer more powerful technology to compete with the rest of the real world of laptops for work and play. Now we've got to decide whether we're living dream, or just plain dreaming.
This morning the folks at Google revealed both the pricing and release info on their newest device, the Pixelbook. This device is a Chromebook, made to be high end, run Chrome OS, and convert from notebook to display to tablet with relative ease. This device will run the newest version of Chrome OS and will be able to run a wide variety of Android apps as well.
For the cost of a couple of iPhone cases, a DIY expert in China has converted an iPhone 5 to an iPhone X... sort of. What results from the unscrewing and cutting and jamming in of parts this user has performed is an iPhone X Mini - an iPhone 5 with as little bezel as possible. Of course creating such a Frankenstein's Monster of a phone required that a little bit of the phone be removed - namely the charging port and the speakers.
![Chrome OS touch controls now available [in this Beta update]](https://www.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/touchchromeos.jpg)
Touch controls and a new UI have been introduced in the most recent release of Canary, the Beta-like state of Google Chrome OS. Google Chrome OS is in a constant state of flux, partially because of the manufacturers that've pushed for functionality that's not been a major part of the software in the past. Google, too, released their first higher-end Chromebook with a touchscreen on it - the first Google Chromebook Pixel.
Samsung is bringing the S Pen to its notebooks, with the Samsung Notebook 9 Pro packing both digital stylus support and a 360-degree hinge. Helping tide us over between now and the Galaxy Note 8 expected to be released later in the year, the new convertible will be offered in two sizes, 13.3-inches and 15-inches. Either way, it packs some of the advanced pen features we tested out on the Galaxy Book earlier this month.
A set of 2 new "Lenovo Flex 4" laptops are being revealed today by Lenovo, both with 2-in-1 capabilities and touchscreens. This newest in a line of "Flex" notebooks comes with either a 14- or 15-inch display, both with a hinge that allows that display to flip back 360-degrees. This newest wave of Flex notebooks has "new narrow bezels" as well as what Lenovo describes as "enhanced design" - as well as the newest in graphics and processing power.
Don't tell Microsoft Surface Studio owners, but Apple still doesn't think touch has any place on computers targeting pro users. The Cupertino firm confirmed today that it's working on new iMac all-in-ones that will specifically target the high-performance requirements of professional users. However, the machines still won't cede any ground on Apple's long-standing refusal to countenance touch displays in anything other than its iOS line-up.