Month: December 2019

The Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL launched with a newer version of Android 10 that included features not found on the public release in September. Gesture navigation on third-party launchers and a handful of other features are now available for the Pixel 3a and older Google phones.

Late in the Android Q Beta, Google announced that its new gesture navigation system would not be compatible with third-party launchers until a post-launch update. The December security patch allows you to use gestures with a homescreen experience other than the Pixel Launcher.

This notably includes swiping from the corners to launch Google Assistant with a delightful light bar. Users were previously stuck with 2-button or 3-button navigation.

Meanwhile, there is a new Pixel Launcher version for older devices that lets you swipe down anywhere on the homescreen to expand the notification shade. This accommodation was added in light of the Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL lacking a fingerprint sensor to perform that gesture.

Pixel Themes customization is now officially on non-Pixel 4 devices. When long-pressing on the homescreen, there’s a new “Styles & wallpapers” menu item that opens the usual background picker. There’s now a “Style” tab that lets you change the font, icons, and accent color.

Similarly, clipboard suggestions to paste copied text into corresponding fields by just tapping on the preview pop-up are now available on older phones.

Lastly, Google’s Live Caption feature for automatically transcribing playing media is now accessible on the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3a.

These Android 10 features should be available on the Pixel 2/XL, Pixel 3/XL, and Pixel 3a/XL with the December security patch rolling out today. There are reports in our comments that the 2016 Pixel/XL did not receive these usability improvements, while the original phone was not included in this month’s official release notes.

Here’s one thing the U.S. government might not have considered when it banned Huawei from doing business in the country: The Chinese networking and smartphone giant doesn’t necessarily need the U.S. to thrive. In fact, its latest smartphones and 5G networking equipment are now “America-free.”

According to an analysis by UBS and Fomalhaut Techno Solutions and cited first by The Wall Street Journal, the Huawei Mate 30 series of handsets are made entirely without any U.S. parts, a first. The expectation is that all 2020 Huawei smartphones will be made similarly.

And it’s not just handsets.

“All of our 5G [hardware] is now America-free,” Huawei cybersecurity official John Suffolk told the Journal. “We would like to continue using American components. It’s good for American industry. It’s good for Huawei. That has been taken out of our hands.”

The net result is harmful to U.S. component makers, of course: Huawei is the world leader in the networking hardware market and is number two in smartphones. And this change mirrors the effect of Huawei not using software made by U.S. corporations like Google and Microsoft, a situation these tech giants warned the U.S. government about when it blacklisted Huawei: This action will make the U.S. weaker, not stronger, because Huawei and other Chinese tech firms will no longer rely on products and services that originate here.

What this change signifies, of course, replacing hardware components is simpler than replacing core software platforms like Android and Windows. But it’s only a matter of time before China catches up in the software arena. The clock is ticking.

There are plenty of deals on older camera models right now, but the D3500 is a current model in the Nikon line-up, and it has a winning combination of simple controls, novice-friendly interface and a low, low price – and to get a Nikon 70-300mm lens, 32GB memory card and a license to Skylum’s Luminar 4 software is just something else!

We rate the Nikon D3500 as one of the best cameras for beginners right now, not to mention one of the best DSLRs all round. This would be a pretty good price even with the camera and the kit lens, but to get the 70-300mm lens too is just terrific. It’s not the VR version of this lens (that would be too much to hope for!) but it’s still a great way to get started in sports and wildlife photography.

Don’t forget, the Cyber Monday camera sales are on until midnight December 2, so you’ve still got time to get those Cyber Monday camera bargains!

Never mind Apple expanding the use of OLED in its devices — it may go one step further with its future hardware. Well-known analyst Ming-Chi Kuo (who has a reputation for largely accurate Apple predictions) believes that Apple will start using mini LED displays in its devices in late 2020, starting with updated versions of the 12.9-inch iPad Pro (what, no love for the 11-inch model?) and the 16-inch MacBook Pro. There will eventually be four to six products in Apple’s lineup using mini LED, Kuo claimed, but there will be a gradual transition.

In theory, mini LED offers many of the benefits of OLED screens without the usual drawbacks. The extremely dense array of LEDs promises high contrast ratios, a wide color range and a thin panel, but remains power-efficient and won’t risk burning in like OLED can. Mini LED makes sense for pro devices where accuracy is important, but content might remain static for hours at a time (say, in media editing software) and otherwise wouldn’t be a good fit for OLED.

While Kuo is generally accurate, it’s still worth treating the forecast with some skepticism. Other reports have suggested that Apple might release new iPad Pro models in early 2020. Even though Apple has updated high-end iPads twice per year before, it would be odd for the company to make relatively minor changes months apart instead of saving them all for one big update. Don’t be surprised if Apple isn’t quite so eager to revise its hardware.