Following yesterday’s keynote teaser, Qualcomm has followed up by lifting the lid on its latest mobile platform – the Snapdragon 845. The chipset sports improvements across the board, ranging from new processing technology to an improved modem. Qualcomm’s press release is heavily focused on multimedia, virtual reality, and security, but we’re going to dive into everything that this chip has to offer next year’s flagship smartphones.
Read Next: Qualcomm AI – an idealistic vision for on-device AI
Google acquired Word Lens years ago, giving Google Translate the nifty ability to translate words with the aid of a smartphone camera. It’s a rather practical feature, but it’s getting even better with a series of new additions.
For one, instant camera translation now supports over 60 more languages, allowing you to translate from 88 languages into over 100 tongues. Some of the prominent additions include Arabic, Hindi, Malay, Thai, and Vietnamese.
Update – August 18, 2021 (11:43 am ET) – The Pokémon Company has announced that Pokémon Unite will finally launch for Android and iOS devices on September 22, after first launching for the Nintendo Switch back on July 21. You can pre-register for the game now on both Google Play and the iOS App Store. If certain pre-registration goals are reached before the release date, players will get some extra in-game items.
Today, Samsung formally launched the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 series. Each year, the Note family represents the best-of-the-best when it comes to Samsung flagships. To know that, all you need to do is check out the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 and Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra specs.
Just like last year, the two devices in the Note 20 line are designed to act as foils to one another. The vanilla Note 20 represents a cheaper way to enter the Note ecosystem while the Note 20 Ultra is the “true” Note device of the year.
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Valve has just announced the official launch date of the Steam Deck: February 25, 2022. If you reserved a unit, you should get an email on that date. You’ll need to place your order within 72 hours. If you don’t place your order, your reservation will pass to the next person in the queue. Last year, Valve — the company behind Steam, the world’s largest online game marketplace — surprised us all with the announcement of a standalone portable gaming PC.
Robert Triggs / Android Authority
The “green bubble” phenomenon is back in the headlines, following accusations that Apple leverages its iMessage platform to exert “peer pressure and bullying as a way to sell products.” A bold but increasingly well-substantiated claim, at least as far as the US is concerned.
Like far too much modern news, the narrative is dictated by a predominantly US-based trend. The rest of the world seems far less obsessed with the smartphone you own or your messaging platform of choice.
The Pixel a series is a great way to get Google’s Android experience in your pocket for a little less money. While older versions, like the Pixel 3a and Pixel 4a, embraced the budget approach with open arms, recent editions have been closer to Pixel flagships than ever. Now, with the launch of the Pixel 6a, the line is even more blurred. It might be enough to tempt you to switch if you’ve been rolling with a Pixel 5a since last year.
Dhruv Bhutani / Android Authority
The Amazon Kindle has established itself as the de-facto choice for anyone looking for an e-book reader. Near-global availability, a digital storefront that could rival the library of Alexandria, and modern-day conveniences like the ability to sync your books across multiple devices make it a no-brainer. Sure, alternatives like the Nook or Kobo exist, but the Kindle is the largest player in the business by a wide margin.
Last year we sawPopcorn Time hit the scene, offering a Netflix-like solution to pirating movies with support for PCs, Macs, Linux, and even Android. The service basically made it easy to stream movies using technology that utilized BitTorrents to get the job done. Now it looks like the same platform and technology are being utilized to bring easy streaming of high-quality porno movies via the aptly named Porn Time.
Porn Time currently only offers support for Windows, Mac, and Linux but Android and iOS versions are expected to arrive sometime in the next week or two.
Samsung was in the news all of last week for reportedly throttling the performance of thousands of apps using its Game Optimizing Service (GOS). After the company confirmed that it indeed uses GOS to “optimize” CPU and GPU performance, Geekbench has delisted the last four generations of Galaxy flagships from its benchmarking platform.
Over the weekend, Geekbench tweeted the following statement:
Earlier this week, we were made aware of Samsung’s Game Optimizing Service (GOS) and how it throttles the performance of games and applications.