Friends, friends again. The Processor Newsletter is back after a short hiatus this fall and a full run of hardware reviews gained through a special run of the Vercast podcast episode about those reviews. I’m really proud of those podcasts and if you haven’t caught them, I think it’s worth listening back to them.
This week Big Consumer Tech News is announcing its moment that it will host a ‘One More Thing’ event for November 10th. The running assumption – which I share – is that Apple Pull will unveil the promised first arm-based Apple Pull silicone-powered model, mostly a laptop. In this very newsletter I’ve made a few decisions on why this transition can be difficult and how a micro .ft rover ride in a similar transition can provide some lessons to Apple Paul. With the newsletter back, I have more to say next week.
For today, I think I want to provide a service to look at some of the neat little things that happen this fall hardware season. I especially like it when the products offer some kind of clever, subtle feature using technology that has been around for years and years. There are lots of innovations based on hyper-advanced chips or sophisticated machine learning algorithms, but the features that make me smile is that someone just needs to come up with new ways to use the parts they already have.
First, it’s not new but it’s exemplary: iOS 14 has a new ibility accessibility feature for the iPhone that lets you tap the back of the phone twice or thrice to content like a virtual button. Chaim Gertenberg wrote about it last week. Apple Pal may not have come up with this first, but its implementation is superb. You can not only map those tapes to standard features, but you can also use them to launch shortcuts – so in effect you can create virtual buttons that can do anything. And of course, it’s an accessibility win to offer a different way to achieve the normal functions of an iPhone.
I love this because as far as I can tell, what it really does is measure the accelerometer that has been sitting in the smartphone forever. We’re just using them to find switching from portrait to landscape to portrait, but if you just sit back and think about the possibilities (and, of course, if you can code it), many other things can be used. For example, Google is using the toxilometer to create a global earthquake detection system with Android phones.
Here’s another feature I like: The Pixel 5 automatically turns on reverse wireless charging for a short time after you plug in the USB-C charger. On Samsung phones, you have to turn it on manually before flipping the phone. I liked the Pixel solution because it solves the problem of charging your wireless earbuds nicely without any extra effort. It charges two devices to a single cable without an extra fuss.
On the one hand though: it’s kind of dumb that software tricks are needed to enable reverse wireless charging in the first place. The basic wireless standard won is the Qi, but I think it’s static – and instead we’re getting a bunch of different “embrace and expand” style innovations on top of the Qi.
Apple’s MagSafe system for the iPhone 12 is the most recent, another example of ingenuity and the use of pre-existing technologies to solve simple problems beautifully. The magnet in the MagSafe adjusts the charging coil for maximum efficiency with minimal effort (and yes, I know Pam did it before). Apple Play also added NFC to the mix, so that accessories and phones can recognize each other seamlessly.
It’s smarter – and that’s the kind of thing I would love to see built to the standard that all phones can use. Similarly, it seems that we are spreading wireless charging standards for faster charging: Apple Plus, Google, OnePlus and Samsung all use different methods to charge their phones faster on a prankster or dock. It’s frustrating.
Let’s end our brief overview of the intelligent uses of basic techniques on a high note. Very High Note: Sony’s PS5 controller seems to be a well-designed win. We’ll need to use it longer and review it thoroughly to test our initial effects, but oh boy it’s a fun little gadget.
Andrew Webster wrote some impressions, and T.L. D.R. That is, it has heptics that are more advanced than any I’ve experienced – in more ways than one. First, the controller can create all sorts of subtle, independent (and discreet!) Tubes tied to what’s going on in the game. You can really feel that difference when your character walks on a hard surface or a soft surface.
Second, there is a method of adding tension to the triggers when you pull on it. There is a motor attached to the corkscrew which is equipped against the trigger; Just look at the example in this post. It introduces many new mechanics into sports – or at least their potential.
I had to try the controller briefly and I can understand why everything is hypothesized on something that is most likely. It’s just a very thoughtfully designed object budget that creates new experiences through the creative use of simple elements.
All of these features can be flattened. Not only sound education but his alertness and dedication too are most required. Today, like a pause, take a second to appreciate when those two things come together.
The last meta note about this newsletter, randomly scheduled emails will resume, and I thank you for your patience and apologize for leaving last month. I aim for a couple per week through the Thanksgiving break.
Election News
There are a lot of tech-related results of the election, and I’ve linked some of the big ones below. But of course the biggest tech related The story How platforms from the election are reacting to misinformation – including misinformation in the presidential campaign itself.
Trump bans campaign official’s tweet accusing Philadelphia of voter fraud, Facebook warns that votes still count on top of feeds, both Twitter and Facebook Vowed. In the election results file, YouTube left a video that looks like it should come down, and in this space I can fit.
I sent Casey Newton to T.L. Said, it’s all DR for us, and he told me the following. For more detailed ideas – and to get them every day – you should subscribe to her new newsletter, Platform.
Platforms seem to have largely succeeded in fighting the big wars of 2016: spammy, combating the spread of misinformation from scandalous “fake news” sites, and even making it difficult for foreign artists to run covert operations. We’ll learn more later, but it doesn’t look like the 2020 election will turn out to be the case.
The 2020 Platform War is still about misinformation, but this time it is coming from the top: The President of the United States has repeatedly made premature claims of victory and cast doubt on the integrity of the election. On that front, I think Facebook and Twitter moved effectively – and with unusual confidence – into the labeling of presidential posts. YouTube lags behind, obscure for being meaningless with the label of election videos – and, I would argue, wrong. (He says “results can’t be final.” There’s no “May” about it. It won’t be final for weeks!)
We cannot make a complete report card until the result comes. So far I can say that the platforms work a lot better than 2016 – but if the president’s posts are any indication today, they still have a big misinformation challenge to take action. Coming weeks and months.
┏ Massachusetts passes ‘Repair to Right’ law to open car data. Adi Robertson notes that, if this law exists, then it could be the end of how this data is made available nationwide for all its purposes and purposes. Yet, it looks like it’s holding on and drivers will be able to freely access telematics data in their car from any compatible app.
┏ Portland, Maine has voted to ban facial recognition.
┏ California voters say Uber, elevator drivers are not employees after all.
┏ Berber and Lift’s Prop 22 Fight had one edge: their applications. Andrew Hawkins spent millions કરોડ 200 million, in addition to ads in the app, on the all-rights campaign to classify gig workers as freelancers rather than employees.
This is not the first time Uber has run its application for political victory. In 2015, the company was at loggerheads with New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio over his attempt to limit the number of new ride-oil vehicles on the road. To marshal its user base to oppose the mayor, Uber added the “de Blasio” option on how ride requests can disappear and vehicles can slow down in crawls if the mayor’s proposal is approved.
Console
┏ Different strategies for micro .ft and Sony’s next pay generation console. Here’s Peters’ T.L. D.R. Is, but his article goes deeper into what we now know about the strengths and weaknesses of each console.
The choice between the next Xbox or PlayStation will be less about hardware and more about the philosophy of microsoft and Sony about this pay generation of console games. With the Xbox Series X and S, you’ll have access to many older games when they launch, but we’ll have to wait and see if the real next-gen games make a sure case for upgrading. Meanwhile, Sony is betting on an exclusive-focused strategy that works well with the PS4, but it will only work if Sony releases valuable exclusions to play the PS5.
┏ Here’s every game coming on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X at launch and onwards. Nick Stutt has put together a very comprehensive list. If you were lucky enough to pre-order the console either (I wasn’t), save this page as a reference:
Here is a list of every day-one game available on both systems, especially with the exception of titles such as Call of Duty: Black Ps Cold War which launch shortly after launch day and will not be available until November 12. Also, some games are noted as console exclusions despite being released on other platforms such as the Nintendo Switch in previous payouts; We’re only focusing on whether the PS5 or Xbox Series is exclusive to X / S, and timely console exclusives are considered equivalent to first-party permanent exclusives unless the publisher or developer has a concrete cross-platform release date. . Share.
More than the edge
┏ Dell XPS 13 (Late 2020) Review: Greatness, Pure. Monica Chin has all the details on the Tiger Lake processor bump in our favorite laptop of 2020:
So overall, the XPS 13 is still an excellent laptop. It’s still one of the best you can buy. But not as sturdy as I was earlier this year, as the competition grows. ZenBook, Swift, Yoga, Invis and Specter have all taken steps in design, build, Nifty features and performance this year – and there’s an ARM-based MacBook on the way. There are few releases on the horizon that are becoming more and more like XPS 13. This is the best laptop of 2020 with few compromises and low risks. But Dell will need to be creative if it wants to keep XPS at the top of the stack in 2021.
┏ T-Mobile to pay $ 200 million to settle FCC probe into phone-subsidy abuse. Jacob Castranex explains how, before it was achieved by T-Mobile, Sprint engaged in some pretty shady behavior.
Instead, Sprint continued to collect subsidies for services that it did not provide for “extended periods of time.” Service providers begin to remove customers who stop using subsidized phone and internet plans after 30 days if they do not pay otherwise.
┏ Spotify is advancing the ability to stream music from your Apple and nearby iPhone without a nearby iPhone.
┏ Google says the Pixel 5’s display gap is a ‘normal part of the design’. Sorry, but this is Google’s poor sauce. Those who are spending extra money for the Fancy Pixel this year should not have strange gaps and seams on their phones.
