Chromebook owners can now avail themselves of the ability to quickly and easily put together and edit movies thanks to Google Photos.
As Android Police spotted, this new video editing functionality was revealed by Google last month, but it’s now rolling out to all Chromebook users.
The way it works is that you can choose the option to create a movie in Google Photos, then pick a theme – the example Google shows is ‘friendship’ – then select relevant elements, in this case, the friends you want to star in the clip.
The movie creator will then pull images and videos of those friends from Google Photos, automatically putting together some footage, and even intelligently picking sections out from longer video clips (cutting and trimming itself, basically).
If you prefer, you can put together your own selection, and indeed add clips from local files on the Chromebook too.
(Image credit: Google)
Whatever the case, once you’ve got that initial set of clips combined into a movie, you can then mess about with it in the movie editor. It’s possible to cut down various clips as needed, add filters, play with elements like brightness and so on. Finally, you can throw in a (stock) soundtrack to liven things up.
Most Chromebooks will already have Google Photos installed, but if that isn’t the case, you can hop over to the Play Store and just download the app.
Analysis: A compelling slice of convenience
Video editing on Chromebooks is pretty limited in terms of available software – and not everyone wants to use a web-based editor – so this built-in feature is a very welcome string to the functionality bow with Google’s laptops.
The automation aspect of getting the movie creator to trawl through your media and put together something within your specified guidelines is pretty cool, and takes a lot of the effort out of rooting through your pics and clips collection. Which can be a pretty daunting task if you have a lot of media, of course.
Granted, this may never be quite as good as tailoring something yourself, but it’s a seriously convenient option to have all the legwork done for you. As Google notes, all it takes is a few clicks here and there, and you’ve got yourself a video clip (though you’ll still need to edit it, but even then, you can go with a minimal effort approach, of course).
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A damning new report suggests Google has effectively sentenced old Chromebooks to death by ending support for them – a claim that the company has strenuously denied.
As The Register explains, a report by U.S. PIRG titled Chromebook Churn, alleges that after a spike in sales, mainly spurned on by the COVID-19 pandemic, Chromebooks bought by schools are now beginning to “fail”, causes excess electronic waste and “saddling schools with additional costs.”
According to the report, there are three main reasons why even the best Chromebooks are becoming unusable for schools:
Manufacturers typically do not sell new spare parts or otherwise support repair.
Computers have a built-in “death date,” after which software support ends.
Design choices frustrate repair and reuse.
With points 1 and 3, the report criticises Chromebook manufacturers such as Asus, Acer and HP for creating Chromebook devices that are difficult to repair, and for not offering spare parts or repair services, so when a Chromebook becomes faulty, there’s very little owners can do other than discard the Chromebook. For schools which have heavily invested in Chromebooks, this issue becomes even more problematic due to the scales involved.
The report found that of 11 Chromebooks which U.S. PIRG had repairability scores (which are required in France), the Chromebooks all scored noticeably lower when it came to repairability and parts availability compared to standard laptops.
According to the report, “Acer does not directly sell spare parts for their devices,” while “HP claims to offer parts for Chromebooks at parts.hp.com, but searching reveals huge gaps in its practical use.” In this case, while HP claimed to offer parts for its Chromebook 11a, those parts were in fact the power adaptor and cord – not much use if the Chromebook needed internal repairs.
Asus, the other major Chromebook manufacturer singled out in the report, “offers a ‘Customer Self Repair’ program which claims to offer, “speedy, convenient option for notebook repair,” which is slightly better, but which the report notes may be of use to individuals, but not much use to schools and institutions that could have hundreds of units to repair.
(Image credit: Konstantin Savusia / Shutterstock)
Death date
While the report takes aim at Chromebook manufacturers, Google, the company behind the Chrome OS operating system they use, also gets flack for adding what PIRG calls a “death date”, but which Google calls “Automatic Update Expiration (AUE) dates.” Essentially, every Chromebook is apparently given a set date when it will no longer receive updates for Chrome OS.
While this doesn’t mean that the Chromebook will stop working on that date, it does mean it no longer gets security and feature updates, leaving it vulnerable to internet threats such as viruses. This is particularly worrying for schools whose Chromebooks are used primarily by children.
Also, PIRG claims there’s been reports of expired Chromebooks no longer being able to access certain websites due to not being able to pass a security check – a pretty major problem for Chromebooks, considering they rely so much on online services.
Hardware and software reaching ‘end of life’ phases is commonplace – Microsoft, for example, has stopped supporting older versions of Windows, such as Windows 7 and Windows 8. However, as the report suggests, those end of life dates came about after a much longer time than the ChomeOS AUE dates occurred.
For example, Windows 7’s end of life was 14 January 2020, 10 years after the operating system launched. Some Chromebook’s AUE are seven years after the model has launched – and due to how schools purchase Chromebooks, they might get the unit two or more years into the product’s life – which means the time before the AUE arrives is dramatically shorter. This could also impact individual users as well.
Crucially, you can upgrade a laptop or PC to a newer version of Windows when the current version reaches its end-of-life – as long as the device meets the minimum hardware requirements. However, with Chromebooks, there is less clarity about why a Chromebook cannot be updated to a new version of Chrome OS, and its difficult – if not impossible – to switch to a different operating system.
This leads to a situation where schools, institutions and even individuals may find that they have a non-functional Chromebook, despite its hardware being perfectly fine. This, again, is incredibly wasteful.
(Image credit: Future)
Google’s response
We contacted Google after reading the report, and were given the following statement:
“We’ve worked diligently with our hardware partners to increase the years of guaranteed support Chromebooks receive, and since 2020, we now provide eight years of automatic updates, up from five years in 2016. We also are always working with our device manufacturing partners to increasingly build devices across segments with post-consumer recycled and certified materials that are more repairable, and over time use manufacturing processes that reduce emissions.
Regular Chromebook software updates add new features and improve device security every four weeks, allowing us to continuously iterate on the software experience while ensuring that older devices continue to function in a secure and reliable manner until their hardware limitations make it extremely difficult to provide updates.”
Google’s move to extend support for Chromebooks is to be welcomed – however, the report claims that this extension shows that “AUE dates are a choice.”
I think that’s being a bit unfair – Chromebooks by their nature rely on internet services, rather than locally-installed applications, so keeping them updated with security features is incredibly important, and at some point Google does need to limit the number of devices it can keep supporting before things get unmanageable.
However, more transparency on when AUE dates are and why they are implemented would certainly help. It also doesn’t help if you bought a Chromebook in 2016 only to find it no longer supported, and therefore lacking features, after just five years.
Recommendations
The report is quite painful reading for Google and Chromebook manufacturers, as it undermines the main selling points of Chromebooks: their affordability, environmentally friendly nature and benefits as educational devices.
Chromebooks remain some of the best laptops for students in the world, and are devices I often recommend to people who are looking for a more affordable alternative to laptops and MacBooks.
The report suggests that “Chromebooks aren’t designed to last, but Google has the power to change that,” and lays out five ways to address its concerns.
The first is to “Extend expiration dates for Chromebooks” to 10 years after the model’s launch date. This, the report claims, will “allow school districts to greatly extend use, potentially allowing students to use the same Chromebook throughout the majority of their K-12 attendance. Decommissioned laptops could also be resold or refurbished to extend their life.”
The second is that “manufacturers should produce spare parts based on 10% of their stock,” and that this “will increase availability and keep prices low for institutions buying common parts in bulk such as keyboards, screens, and chargers.”
The third suggestion is that “Parts should be standardized across models and manufacturers” which would allow parts from broken Chromebooks to be used to repair others – even from different manufacturers.
The fourth is that “Refurbishers should be able to unenroll devices from remote management,” as certain Chromebooks can be locked down if it’s tied to an earlier user. This is an important security feature for individuals, but could cause issues for schools and institutions that expect many users to use one device over its lifespan.
The final suggestion is that “Google should make it easy to install alternative operating systems,” such as Linux.
(Image credit: Google)
These are admirable suggestions and would certainly increase the lifespan of Chromebooks – however, sadly I really can’t see many of them being adopted.
Extending the AUE would have financial and operational implications for Google that I can’t see the company being keen on, especially in the current climate. I also can’t really envision Google being keen on allowing users to install other operating systems.
Demanding manufacturers to produce spare parts of 10% of their stock also seems optimistic and doesn’t seem to factor in legitimate financial reasons why the manufacturers would do this. If they were, expect Chromebook prices to rise.
Also, as much as I’d love to see it, I struggle to imagine HP, Acer, Asus and other rivals putting aside their differences and standardising parts. Not only is there a rivalry, but they could also argue that this standardisation reduces product uniqueness.
The quick obsolescence of Chromebooks is a very important and concerning matter, especially if it is being artificially hastened by decisions Google and manufacturers are taking. I’m certainly glad that this report has highlighted such issues. However, I don’t think the suggestions it comes up with are particularly realistic, even though I wish they were.
Regardless, this is an issue that needs addressing, and I want Google and manufacturers to continue to give me good reasons to recommend Chromebooks to people.
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Any tablet brand is going to have a hard time competing with Apple’s iPad range, but one potential approach is to undercut Apple’s slates. It doesn’t seem like this will be Google’s approach with its forthcoming Pixel Tablet though, as a price leak suggests it will cost more than the iPad 10.9 (2022), which is the cheapest iPad model Apple currently sells.
According to Roland Quandt – a leaker with a good track record – the Google Pixel Tablet will retail for between €600 and €650 (around $660 / £530 / AU$980 to $715 / £575 / AU$1,060). That’s a mid-range price, but it’s higher than the €589 starting price of the iPad 10.9 (2022) in France.
That said, you only get 64GB of storage with the iPad for that money, whereas the Pixel Tablet starts at 128GB, according to Quandt; with a 256GB model also apparently being made.
Google Pixel Tablet: 128 or 256GB, "Porcelain" or "Haze", pricing looks like 600-650 Euros.April 19, 2023
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Quandt additionally says that the tablet’s colors will be called Haze and Porcelain. We’ve already seen official images showing green and white/beige colorways, so we can assume Haze is the former and Porcelain the latter.
Back on the subject of price though, there are some other details not included in Quandt’s tweet which could make the Pixel Tablet a bit more palatable, as 9to5Google recently claimed to have learned that a Charging Speaker Dock will come with the slate.
Google has already shown this accessory off, but it wasn’t previously clear whether it would be sold separately or come included with the tablet.
The answer might be both, as while 9to5Google says it will be included in the Pixel Tablet price, an Amazon listing suggests it might be sold separately too (presumably in case you want more than one to have multiple docking points around your house, or break yours).
(Image credit: Amazon / 9to5Google)
The listing has since been removed, but not before being spotted by 9to5Google and 9to5Toys, and it included a price of $129 (around £105 / AU$190). That’s quite expensive, but makes the rumored price of the Pixel Tablet much more enticing if you’re getting both the slate and this dock for that money.
It would seem odd not to be able to buy the Pixel Tablet without the dock though, so we’d take the claim that the two come together as standard with a pinch of salt. If you can also buy the tablet separately though, then it’s still possible that Quandt’s price leak is for the bundle.
As much a smart display as a tablet
So there are some unanswered questions there. Either way, that dock could be the main reason buyers might consider this over an iPad. It turns Google’s tablet into a smart display, with presumably better speakers than the tablet has, while also keeping it charged.
As such, for anyone who wants a slate that also functions as a smart display, this could be a tempting buy, but it remains to be seen how many people that will be.
We should have a clearer idea soon, as most leaks suggest the Pixel Tablet will be announced at Google IO 2023 on May 10, alongside the Pixel 7a and Pixel Fold, both of which are also rumored to have higher prices than you might have hoped.
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Apple’s future iPad Pros could be thinner, lighter, and generally more premium, thanks to new OLED screen technology being developed by LG and Samsung.
That's according to a report from The Elec, which claims both LG Display and Samsung are working on fancy new OLED etching tech which could one day be used in the best iPads. It's not yet clear when the iPad Pro will benefit from this development, but it could be as soon as next year.
We've previously reported that iPad Pro models could get OLED displays in 2024, with both LG and Samsung said to be producing panels for Apple to use. These reportedly have a two-stack design, meaning there’s a pair of light-emitting layers in the screen, not just one. They're known as hybrid panels, and are a compromise between cheaper (standard) rigid panels and expensive flexible ones.
These hybrid panels use a combination of a glass substrate (like a rigid screen, which consists of two of these) and thin-film encapsulation, or TFE (as seen with a flexible panel). However, right now that glass substrate layer must be moved during the manufacturing process on the production line.
That’s problematic, due to the thin layer breaking in some cases - whereas the new etching process will enable everything to be done in one go, making it safer for the manufacturer and allowing for a thinner panel (and therefore iPad).
The caveat to all of this is that LG Display reportedly won’t be using this new tech until its first Gen 8 OLED line. For the iPad Pro models rumored for next year, then, the current Gen 6 OLED line will instead be employed - which means we won’t get these slimmer panels until the following generation after the 2024 models.
Or will we? Because Samsung Display seemingly started work on this new etching process earlier than LG, and The Elec’s report contends that it will be immediately applied to iPad OLED panels on Samsung’s Gen 6 line. So, the suggestion is that next-gen iPad Pros might just benefit from these thinner and fancier screens after all.
Analysis: How far off is the dream screen?
Okay, so if we are to see these super-slim screens in the next iPad Pros – at least for the panels Samsung makes with this reported new etching process – how would that work? Might the larger next-gen iPad Pro get these panels, but not the smaller?
It’d certainly make sense for the bigger of the tablets to get the upgrade first, because the rather hefty iPad Pro 12.9 has more to gain from a thinner screen.
Confusingly, though, a previous report from The Elec (two months back) claimed that Samsung is only developing 11-inch OLED screens for Apple, whereas LG is handling both 11-inch and 13-inch. Although in the future, The Elec reckons, that could change, with Samsung making both types.
Ultimately, this is a lot of whispering on the grapevine, so we need to be very cautious about how much stock we put in the idea of a thinner panel for a next-gen iPad Pro. What seems to be clear enough here is that the slimmer screens are coming, they just might not arrive next year.
Whatever take on OLED manifests in the end, there’s a danger that next year’s iPad Pros could be considerably pricier. The two-stack design OLEDs are considerably more expensive than current screens, and that cost is bound to be passed on to the consumer in the form of more expensive iPad Pros.
The good news is that the displays are not just much brighter than single-stack panels, but they last longer, too – making for high-quality OLEDs with plenty of longevity. Having them thinner on top of all that would certainly make for an impressive salvo of upgrades on the screen front.
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Apple’s MacBook Air 15-inch is looking ever more likely to arrive soon, but it may do so without the much-rumored new M3 chipset.
This fresh leak comes from one of the better known sources for Apple gossip, Mark Gurman, who reports via Bloomberg that new Macs are being tested with macOS 14, and that one of those is a device that's “likely to be the 15-inch MacBook Air”.
However, Gurman goes on to say that the mysterious new machine is equipped with a processor that’s “on par” with the current M2, and that has the same loadout of cores (8 for the CPU and 10 for the GPU). We’re further informed that the M3 SoC will be “coming later”, although not how much later.
There's better news about the new machine's possibly display specs, with Gurman claiming that it could run with a display resolution of 3024 x 1964, as seen with the MacBook Pro 14-inch. Bear in mind, though, that with a slightly bigger panel it wouldn’t look quite as sharp (but to be fair, still plenty sharp enough).
The launch date is also touched on, with the theory floated that with the MacBook Air 15-inch seemingly now being tested, the obvious timeframe for an unveiling could be WWDC, Apple’s big developer conference in June.
That potential launch timing chimes with another rumor about the MacBook Air 15's launch date from a prominent Apple leaker, display analyst Ross Young. He claimed last week that panel production for the MacBook Air 15-inch is currently being ramped up ahead of an expected launch in the near future. While Young believes the new Air might be released as soon as next month, WWDC in June would arguably make more sense for the big reveal.
Analysis: Disappointment in some quarters – but is that fair?
There’s now quite a hefty weight of rumors that the MacBook Air 15-inch is indeed inbound, and likely to land in the near future, most probably within the next couple of months. At this point, we’d be surprised if it doesn’t, but you never know – even if this is Apple’s plan right now, there could still be a last-minute change.
If Gurman is correct in thinking that the new MacBook Air will have an M2 chip of some kind, rather than an M3, that's likely to disappoint some folk - not least because previous rumors from Gurman and the likes of DigiTimes has suggested that the MacBook Air 2023 would come with an M3 chip. However, that speculation was pinned on the Air 15-inch pitching up later this year, rather than it arriving imminently.
Other sources have also recently claimed that Apple will stick with the M2 chip in the larger inbound MacBook Air, and that makes some sense in terms of the company’s overall laptop range.
By which we mean, imagine if the MacBook Air 15-inch did turn up with an M3 inside. Wouldn’t that upset those who just bought Apple’s freshly launched MacBook Pro models earlier this year with M2 silicon inside them? We'd think so. Plus, it’s not like an M2 chip wouldn’t still be powerful enough for a MacBook Air.
All of the above is mere speculation, of course, but the weight of evidence does suggest a new MacBook Air 15 is coming before long. We'll be watching with interest to see what happens next.
A new Google Pixel Tablet leak appears to reveal that the incoming iPad rival will have a privacy switch, which means it could be as much a home smart display as it is a tablet.
The new images, published by the leaker SnoopyTech on Twitter, show a switch on the edge of the tablet next to its camera, which hasn't been visible in the photos we've previously seen from Google.
Given that the Pixel Tablet is expected to be a smart display that sits in its dock at home, this toggle is most likely a privacy switch like the ones we've previously seen on devices like the Google Nest Hub Max. Those switches let you quickly disable the microphone and camera when you're at home.
Still not sure if this was the best design pic.twitter.com/o9e7iBBnR9April 13, 2023
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We already knew that the Pixel Tablet would be something of a successor to Google's smart displays, given that Google has already released images of it sitting on tables for home video calls.
But this leak comes just a few days after news broke that Google has effectively killed third-party smart displays that use its voice Assistant, suggesting that the search giant is now quite keen to claim that market for itself.
The Pixel Tablet, though, may be a next-gen example of what Google wants a smart display to be, rather than simply a slap in the face to anyone who bought a now-unsupported Lenovo Smart Display. And with the expected inclusion of a Tensor G2 chipset and a version of Android called Android 12L, it will likely make previous smart displays look quite dated.
But the Pixel Tablet's expected arrival at Google IO 2023 in May could also be greeted with a slow clap by anyone who's previously invested in one of those now effectively defunct third-party displays.
Analysis: a tablet without a cause?
(Image credit: Google)
Google previewed the Google Pixel Tablet almost a year ago at Google IO 2022, so suspicions had been growing that it was either vaporware, or had been sent on a fast-track to the increasingly-crowded Google Graveyard.
These new leaks do at least suggest that the tablet is nearing its launch, most likely at Google IO 2023. But it remains something of a confusing device, particularly given that recent news about Google abandoning third-party smart displays.
One of the biggest weaknesses of these home devices hasn't been hardware, but poor software integration and stagnating voice assistants. For example, we found the Google Nest Hub Max to have patchy connectivity to Google's own Next cameras.
Our expectations for voice assistants are also changing given the incredible conversational powers of ChatGPT and Google Bard. The slow and disjointed process of talking to Siri, Alexa and Google Assistant now feels a lot less appealing, and there's evidence that both Google and Amazon have drastically reduced investment in the voice assistants that would power devices like the Pixel Tablet.
Still, perhaps the slowly-improving Matter smart home standard could present fresh opportunities for home-based controllers like the Pixel Tablet – and that's one of the many things we're looking forward to finding out at Google IO 2023.
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Intel and Arm just struck a deal that could change the way future mobile devices are powered, not to mention a whole slew of digital devices in every category of use.
While Intel has long made the best processors on the planet for PCs and laptops, it hasn't been as involved in low-powered, lightweight semiconductors like those used in phones, tablets, and IoT devices like smart speakers. That looks to change with a new agreement between Intel Foundry Services and Arm Ltd.
British semiconductor firm Arm has been licensing out its processor designs to major industry players like Apple and Qualcomm for use in mobile phones and tablets for many years now, thanks to Arm's emphasis on mobile energy efficiency over the raw performance normally seen in desktops. But Intel and Arm have steered clear of each other, making today's joint announcement a major development in the semiconductor space.
At the heart of the design technology co-optimization (DTCO) the two companies agreed to is Intel's 18A process, which is the last chip fabrication process in Intel's aggressive 5-year road map that began with Intel Alder Lake. That chip was fabbed on the 10nm Intel 7 process.
Intel 18A is scheduled for risk production starting in the second half of 2024, with chips co-designed with Arm presumably starting to roll off the line by the end of that year.
“There is growing demand for computing power driven by the digitization of everything, but until now fabless customers have had limited options for designing around the most advanced mobile technology,” Pat Gelsinger, CEO of Intel Corporation, said in a statement emailed to TechRadar.
“Intel’s collaboration with Arm will expand the market opportunity for [Intel Foundry Services] and open up new options and approaches for any fabless company that wants to access best-in-class CPU IP and the power of an open system foundry with leading-edge process technology.”
Intel's finally getting into the foundry-as-a-service business
Intel is a semiconductor industry giant, as well as being something of the elder statesman of processor fabrication. The late Gordon Moore, for whom Moore's Law is named, was one of Intel's founders more than half a century ago, and Intel has been on the cutting edge of computer processing technology pretty much since the integrated circuit's inception.
But Intel has had some major competition in recent years, and not just from archrival AMD. TSMC and Samsung are both major chip foundries that supply everyone from Nvidia and AMD to Apple and Qualcomm. Intel, in a lot of ways, has been something of the odd duck out by fabbing its own chips in-house and pretty much exclusively its own chips.
With this new deal from Arm, Intel is taking a major step into servicing the foundry needs of "fabless" industry partners in its own right. Fabless is a polite way of saying companies like Arm, AMD, and Apple that design computer processors in house, but have to go elsewhere to have chips fabricated, increasingly by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC).
By opening up its foundry services and letting companies bring their own chip designs to Intel for fabrication on Intel's 18A process, the company is staking a major claim in a market that effectively only has two other players, TSMC and Samsung. Given Intel's industry position, it is probably the only company on Earth right now that could credibly compete with TSMC and Samsung.
All of this will hopefully mean significantly cheaper chips as competition does its thing. It remains to be seen what this new partnership develops in the coming decade, but Arm is certainly not going to be the last company to come knocking on Intel's foundry door in the years ahead.
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There have been a few rumblings about the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 in recent weeks, and it seems as though the Android tablet series could arrive with two cheaper FE (Fan Edition) models as part of the range – which would be something of a surprise.
The team at SamMobile has been joining the dots and comparing the model numbers posting Geekbench benchmarks. Two of those models, SM-X516B and SM-X616B, could relate to budget-level versions of the Tab S9.
Based on previous convention, the Tab S9, Tab S9 Plus and Tab S9 Ultra should have the model numbers SM-X716, SM-X816 and SM-X916 respectively. That means the two extra models that have turned up are something of a mystery.
The FE returns
You may remember that a Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 FE was launched in 2021, but we didn't get an FE tablet with the Galaxy Tab S8 the year after. The signs now are that the FE model might be making a comeback – as it might well for Samsung's phone line too.
The FE version of the Galaxy S22 phone didn't materialise – matching the tablet series – but there has been plenty of talk that there will in fact be a Samsung Galaxy S23 FE this year. It would seem that the Fan Edition is back in favor.
According to the benchmarks, these tablets are going to be fitted with a mid-range Exynos 1380 chipset and either 6GB or 8GB of RAM. They should appear alongside the main Tab S9 tablets around August or September time (following the schedule of the Galaxy Tab S8).
Analysis: covering the price points
In previous years – except last year – Samsung has used FE tablets and phones to appeal to people who don't want to spend flagship-level prices but do want devices they can rely on. All the best mid-range phones and tablets make compromises, but the right ones.
It's not clear exactly why the FE models didn't appear alongside the Galaxy Tab S8 or the Galaxy S22, but the ongoing effects of a global pandemic and economic uncertainty probably had something to do with it.
Another possibility is that sales weren't great for devices like the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE, so it's going to be interesting to see if that changes, should Samsung decide to produce two Galaxy Tab S9 FE models (possibly with different sizes or configuration options).
In theory, these FE devices should be the perfect balance of price and performance, but it can be a difficult sweet spot to hit. For inspiration, Samsung need only look to Apple, which covers a whole range of price points with its iPads.
Google’s upcoming Pixel Tablet is set to arrive packing the latest connectivity tech, including ultra-wideband support (UWB), based on a regulatory listing spotted online.
An FCC (US Federal Communications Commission) listing for a ‘Google-made hand-held device’ was spotted by 9to5Google, which speculates that UWB support could be used to enable features like digital handoff for audio; that is, tapping your phone to transfer the audio stream via a supported app or enabling it to tap into Google’s reported Find My network rival.
For clarification, the listing doesn’t say that the device in question is a Pixel Tablet – rather it identifies a ‘Google-made hand-held device that doesn’t support cellular capabilities’. That’s either a hint that Google’s planning on building the next iPod, or it's the Pixel Tablet the company already announced a year ago which should be.
Building a rival ecosystem
More than just being considered simply a Nest Hub replacement, Google could be considering the tablet form factor as the center of your digital life. In other words, the Nest Hub features are simply additions to further this goal, rather than its entire raison d’etre.
With its Android 12L and Android 13 updates, Google began investing heavily in Android device interconnectivity. Partly due to this, we got a small trickle of Android tablets that highlighted this Apple handoff-style interconnectivity (enabled by UWB), as part of their appeal – the upcoming OnePlus Pad stands out as an example of an Android manufacturer jumping into the tablet market for that reason.
The key question remains whether Google can go further than Apple, rather than simply copying this key feature. The company’s most ambitious cross-device features hint at a significant deviation, with Chromebooks set to soon gain the ability to stream apps from Android phones (albeit a year later than Google’s 2022 announcement implied). That’s also a feature the as-yet-unreleased OnePlus Pad boasts, and one that Google could highlight with its Pixel Tablet.
Combine that with a Nest Hub-style dock, a large screen that lets you locate all your devices, and powerful speakers – so your music can shine, and you get a feel for the potential a Pixel Tablet could have.
We’ll learn more about Google’s cross-device plans at Google I/O in May 2023, but we’re already excited for the potential, as more information trickles out.
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Google has made some big moves on the app front that might change how you use your Chromebook, with the introduction of app streaming from an Android smartphone, and also by killing off Chrome Apps to be replaced by better Progressive Web Apps (known as PWAs for short).
So let’s look at that big streaming development first. As highlighted by Chrome Unboxed, the app streaming feature which allows you to use Android apps on the Chromebook desktop is now rolling out to some users in beta.
Google is finally rolling out the "app streaming" feature they first announced at CES 2022!This feature uses new APIs in Android 13 to let you stream and control your Android apps from your Chromebook!This won't be a Pixel-exclusive feature, either! https://t.co/GelNPxi8gj pic.twitter.com/VrD0t1Rn1NApril 4, 2023
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This was first flagged up on Twitter by Mishaal Rahman (a freelance journo) who found the feature was still wonky – while running on a heavily modded test device, mind you – but noted that they’ve seen a couple of users who do have it working properly.
The feature is powered by the Cross-Device Services app which was just updated by Google, but there are some major caveats as to who gets this (we’ll come back to that later).
For those who can access the app streaming right now, firing up the Phone Hub on the Chromebook allows for viewing all recently opened Android apps, and it’s a simple matter of clicking on any of them to launch it on the ChromeOS desktop.
Elsewhere in the Google software ecosystem, Digital Trends further reports on the death of Chrome (browser) Apps that could be grabbed from the Chrome Web Store.
Those Chrome Apps have been on their way out for a long time, mind you, and were never very popular. They generally offered a compromised experience of cut-back functionality and glitches (not sizing properly for the screen they were being used on, for example). Support was flaky to boot.
Google actually started phasing out these apps in 2020, but now, with the release of Chrome version 112, the company has officially brought down the guillotine on Chrome Apps for the desktop, instead ushering in PWAs.
PWAs successfully address the shortcomings of Chrome Apps, being more reliable, and having updates piped through automatically (with no need to visit the Web Store to install them). Indeed, PWAs just plain work better all-round.
There may be some folks who are still using a Chrome App that’s important to them – most likely in a business (or education) setting – and so Google will continue to support them for ChromeOS until January 2025. That’s to give those users enough time to find a replacement app for whatever crucial product they may still need.
Analysis: Dream stream feature isn’t for everyone (yet)
The app streaming feature has been a long time coming. Indeed, Google announced the capability way back at CES 2022 (yes, not at the start of this year, but the year before).
As we mentioned above, though, there are big caveats as to who can avail themselves of app streaming from Android phones right now (which is still in beta, remember).
Firstly, the capability is only available to install on certain devices (running Android 13) which includes Google’s Pixels phones (of course). And crucially your device (or Google account) must be opted-in to the feature. Exactly how the latter process works in terms of who has been chosen, Rahman isn’t certain, but observes that the rollout “seems to be server-side controlled by Google”.
In short, you may get it, or you may not – assuming you have a supported smartphone – but we’d imagine a wider rollout will be coming before too long (fingers crossed).
Supported phones are as follows, according to Rahman: Google Pixel models, Asus Zenfone 9, Nothing Phone 1, Oppo A78 5G, Oppo Find N2 Flip, Redmi A2, Redmi Note 12, Xiaomi 12T and Xiaomi 12T Pro.
There could well be other models besides these, though, but the point is that far from every Android phone is getting it (at least for now).
It’s a great feature, for sure, but note that not every app can be streamed to a Chromebook. Rahman points out that the exceptions include Google Camera, banking apps, medical apps, PS Remote Play, and most launcher software.
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A new tweet from display industry analyst Ross Young has seemingly confirmed that we won’t be getting OLED models of the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro until 2026 at the earliest - and I’m so, so disappointed.
Young tweeted out a Reuters article regarding a $3.14 billion investment by Samsung in OLED production in the Asan region of South Korea, claiming that the new manufacturing plants will be used to produce 14- and 16-inch OLED displays for MacBook Pro models starting in 2026.
This follows on from previous statements from Young regarding the rumored OLED MacBooks, where he stated that the MacBook Pro was not a priority for Apple when it comes to upgrading to OLED; instead, we’ll likely be seeing the new displays in iPad Pro and MacBook Air models first, hopefully as early as 2024.
This will be due to a wide number of factors, including a drop in MacBook sales and apparent difficulties in scaling up production of OLED displays. Apple recently announced an unlikely partnership with Samsung to boost manufacturing, as its existing arrangement with LG was apparently insufficient for producing the number of OLED panels needed for future Apple products.
This fab is for 14” and 16” OLED MacBook Pro’s from 2026. Some technical risk though, with new backplane approach and frontplane approach to lower costs and improve performance.https://t.co/TO9z3XqFMwApril 4, 2023
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Apple risks falling behind in the OLED arms race
OLED screens are rapidly becoming more common in productivity laptops, thanks to their impressive maximum brightness and color reproduction, as well as superior energy efficiency.
While they were once limited to premium devices, OLED is now far more affordable than it once was; last year’s Swift 3 OLED is a great example of an ultrabook that doesn't come with a huge price tag, costing close to the MacBook Air in price. If Young’s claims are accurate, not having an OLED-equipped MacBook Pro on the market for another three years could be a real blow to Apple - especially since display quality is a big selling point for MacBooks in general.
However, there is still speculation that an OLED MacBook Air could arrive sooner, potentially as early as next year. I’m really hoping this is the case - or an OLED 13-inch MacBook Pro, since Young’s tweet only mentions the 14- and 16-inch models. As anyone who has used an OLED laptop can attest, they really are excellent. I adored the display on last year’s Samsung Galaxy Book2 Pro, calling it one of the best ultrabooks available at the time.
It’s understandable that Apple might be taking a while to get in gear over OLED displays, since the LiquidRetina screens MacBooks have sported for years have certainly been good enough for consumers that there was no urgent need to upgrade. But with OLED (and AMOLED) becoming more ubiquitous over conventional LCD laptop screens, Apple really needs to step things up unless it wants to see some serious competition for the MacBook in the next couple of years.
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Just a couple of days on from an extensive Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Plus leak, we’re now hearing about the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra, with a specs leak that reveals many of the key details.
This comes from @UniverseIce, who has a fairly good track record, and claims that – among other things – the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra has an IP68 certification. That’s the same certification as most high-end phones, such as the Samsung Galaxy S23 and iPhone 13, have, and it means the tablet would have significant water and dust resistance.
Splash out on a high-end phone and this is an expected feature, but on tablets it’s rare unless you’re looking at models that are specifically designed to be rugged. None of the slates in the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 series have proper water resistance, and nor do any iPads.
So if @UniverseIce is right, that could give the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra a selling point that rivals lack. It might sound like a small thing unless you’re keen to use your tablet in the bath, but water resistance can be reassuring, and can protect your very expensive purchase from accidental spills and splashes.
Exclusive: Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra208.6 x 326.4 x 5.5mm Same as S8 Ultra14.6” 2960 x 1848 (WQXGA+) 11200mAh 45w 737g，IP68，8Gen2 for Galaxy，16GB LPDDR5X。April 5, 2023
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More power and more of the same
That’s not the only spec @UniverseIce has shared, although the other details are less exciting. The Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra will apparently have a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chipset, which is the same as you’ll find in the Samsung Galaxy S23 series. So this isn’t surprising, but it should give the tablet a substantial power boost over the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1-packing Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra.
The rest of the listed specs are largely the same as those of the Tab S8 Ultra, including a 14.6-inch 1848 x 2960 screen, an 11,200mAh battery with 45W charging, and identical dimensions of 326.4 x 208.6 x 5.5mm. There’s also 16GB of RAM mentioned, which again is the same as the current model, though that tablet also comes in versions with less RAM. It’s not clear if the same will be true here.
The only other rumored difference, other than the chipset and IP rating, is the weight, with the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra said to be marginally heavier than the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra at 737g versus 726g. That shouldn’t make much difference, but when you consider that the iPad Pro 12.9 (2022) only weighs 682g, any increase in weight is undesirable, as these Ultra slates are among the heaviest tablets around.
Of course, none of this is confirmed yet, so take it all with a pinch of salt. It might be confirmed soon though, as it’s already been over a year since the Galaxy Tab S8 line landed, so there’s a high chance the Tab S9 series will launch soon. And if these specs do prove to be accurate, the Tab S9 Ultra could very well rank among the best tablets you can buy.
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The Kindle Scribe better watch out – there’s a new premium note-taking ereader on the market.
Available for preorder today – Wednesday, April 5 – the Kobo Elipsa 2E is the successor to the 10.3-inch Kobo Elipsa, the company’s first foray into a note-taking ereader. While there’s a lot of similarities between the two Kobo models, the Elipsa 2E comes with some notable and welcome upgrades from its predecessor.
For starters, the Elipsa 2E continues Kobo's eco-friendly mission that kicked off with the 6-inch Kobo Clara 2E last August. Just like its smaller sibling, the Elipsa 2E is made with 85% recycled plastic, including 10% that was bound for the ocean. This environment-conscious twist helps the Kobo Elipsa 2E standout from its direct competitor, the 2022 Kindle Scribe, which instead has a full metal chassis.
The comparisons don’t end there – just like the Kindle Scribe, the Kobo Elipsa 2E won’t arrive alone. Bundled with a completely redesigned Kobo Stylus 2, you’ll be able to use the Elipsa 2E to write up notes in margins of ebooks and PDF documents, highlight interesting parts of a book, and write or doodle to your heart's content across 20 different page settings. This new stylus has also improved on its predecessor, now with a rechargeable battery via a USB-C port, an updated design that includes a white ‘eraser’ at the top of the otherwise black pen and a magnetic strip to help secure it on the top of the Elipsa 2E (as opposed to the side in other similar devices).
There’s also a sleepcase that you can purchase separately, and this too has been redesigned for the Elipsa 2E. Unlike the old foldable cover that was bundled with the previous Elipsa and opened in portrait mode, the new faux leather case opens like a book cover and is made of 97% recycled material. This cover, which essentially only encases one side and the top of the device, simply clips onto the longer slim bezel of the Elipsa 2E magnetically and also provides a much more secure spot to store the Stylus 2 by offering a nook for the new pen.
As for inbuilt features, there’s 32GB of storage, Bluetooth connectivity so you can listen to all your favorite audiobooks, and a glare-free E Ink touchscreen that, unlike its predecessor, now has amber LEDs to help change both brightness and light hue.
Kobo also has continued to offer OverDrive with the Elipsa 2E and this will remain on the devices despite the app being retired into the Libby service on mobile, allowing users to borrow books from a library that also has OverDrive support. Also on board is baked-in Pocket and Dropbox integration, so you can save longform web articles to read later (if you have a Pocket account set up on your web browser) and transfer files (even notes) directly from the cloud via a linked Dropbox account.
Like the older Elipsa, the Notebook features continue to be extensive, with handwriting recognition also available if you’d like to convert your notes to text.
(Image credit: Kobo)
Preorders open from April 5 in the US, Canada, the UK and Australia for an official release on April 19 in all available regions. You’ll be looking at parting with $399.99 / £349.99 / AU$629.95 to pick one up – and this price includes the Kobo Stylus 2 – with an additional $69.99 / £69.99 / AU$89.95 for the sleepcase. Preorders in the US, UK and Australia also come with a bonus $25 / £25 / AU$25 Kobo eGift card to spend on ebooks and audiobooks for your new device.
The Kobo Elipsa 2E is a bit more expensive than the starting price of the Kindle Scribe ($339.99 / £339.99 / AU$549.99), however the Elipsa 2E does come with twice the storage than the base model of the Scribe, which also ships with just the Basic Pen. That said, the 32GB Kindle Scribe that ships with the Premium Pen costs $389.99 / £379.99 / AU$629, so the Elipsa 2E is priced very competitively, especially in the UK.
Is this enough for the Kobo's newest notetaker to surpass the Kindle Scribe on our best ereaders list? The verdict is still out while we finish our Kobo Elipsa 2E review, but it’s looking like it could be a serious contender, especially as the Kindle Scribe appears to have a smaller set of writing tools than the Elipsa 2E.
But wait, you need to keep reading…
Additionally, Kobo has expanded its ebook subscription service to two major regions. Finally launching today (April 5) in both the US and the UK, Kobo Plus was originally only available in six regions including Canada, Australia and New Zealand with a monthly fee of CA$9.99 / AU$13.99 / NZ$14.99.
Kobo Plus is the Japanese-Canadian ereader maker’s answer to Kindle Unlimited, granting subscribers access to a library of over 1.3 million ebooks and over 100,000 audiobooks. Following the model set up in Canada, both the UK and the US will have three different subscription tiers to choose from, with the choice to subscribe to only Kobo Plus Read for ebooks only, Kobo Plus Listen for just audiobooks, or both for a discounted price.
Pricing for both the US and the UK comes to $7.99 / £8.99 per month for either Read or Listen, or $9.99 / £11.99 for the full-fat Kobo Plus option that gets you both ebooks and audiobooks. There's also a 30-day free trial on offer in both the UK and the US, just like the other regions, so you can test out your chosen plan before fully committing.
(Image credit: TechRadar / Sharmishta Sarkar)
While Kobo Plus offers a substantial library, Kindle Unlimited currently has a larger catalog, but limits you to ‘borrowing’ up to 10 titles at once on loan. Kobo Plus doesn’t have that limitation, so you can add to your library as much as you want. Neither service lets you own what you borrow though, so once you cancel your subscription, you lose access to those books.
Kindle Unlimited ($9.99 / £7.99 / AU$13.99 per month) also gives you access to some audiobooks that have corresponding ebook titles in the catalog, but Kobo Listen works like Audible, where you get credits to ‘purchase’ audiobooks.
While Kobo Plus Listen has been available for some time in Canada (CA$9.99p/m on its own or a monthly fee of CA$12.99 when bundled with Read), subscribers in Australia and New Zealand have a separate audiobook subscription service that’s not branded as Kobo Listen (AU$12.99 / NZ$13.99 per month). For now it remains unclear if these two regions will also switch over to Kobo Plus Listen and get the three different plans.
It’s been over a year since the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 series launched, so we’re due new models, and now we’re seeing the clearest sign yet that the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 series could be landing soon.
Reputable leaker @OnLeaks has shared details of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Plus with WolfofTablet, and this leak includes not just specs, but also high-quality renders.
From those renders (some of which you can see below), it appears that the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Plus will look a lot like the Galaxy Tab S8 Plus, with the main difference just being a slightly different camera design, that’s more in line with the Samsung Galaxy S23 series.
Beyond that, this looks to be the same shape as the Tab S8 Plus, and apparently has almost identical dimensions of 285.4 x 185.4 x 5.64mm. It’s also shown to have a magnetic silo for the S Pen stylus on the back, just like its predecessor, and the same USB-C port and quad-speaker positioning.
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(Image credit: WolfofTablet / @OnLeaks)
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(Image credit: WolfofTablet / @OnLeaks)
As for the specs, these apparently include a 12.4-inch screen, with a resolution of 1752x2800, granting it around 266ppi (pixels per inch). That again is the same as the Galaxy Tab S8 Plus.
The other listed specs are the same too, including 45W charging, an under-display fingerprint sensor, Samsung DeX support (so you can wirelessly connect your tablet to a larger screen), dual cameras on the back, and a single camera on the front.
The specs of those cameras aren’t yet known, but for reference the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Plus has a 13MP wide snapper, a 6MP ultrawide, and a 12MP selfie camera, so we may see the same on the Galaxy Tab S9 Plus.
The selfie camera is on one of the long edges of the tablet, making it ideal for landscape use, but the report also mentions an unknown sensor on the top edge. However, @OnLeaks later tweeted that this is also found on the Galaxy Tab S8 series, so it’s actually nothing new, and likely just handles adaptive brightness.
It’s also worth noting that while no antenna lines are shown in these images, they may be present on the finished tablet.
What’s new and when’s it out?
Other than a slight tweak to the design of the rear cameras, this leak suggests the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Plus could be near identical to the Galaxy Tab S8 Plus. But there are plenty of details we don’t yet know, and if nothing else, this new slate is sure to get a power boost.
The Galaxy Tab S8 Plus has a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset, so for the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Plus we’d expect the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, just like the Galaxy S23 series has. Hopefully, there will be other upgrades too, but we probably won’t know for sure until the slate is announced.
As for when that will be, well, an earlier leak suggested that Samsung was pushing back the launch, but as we’re now over a year on from the release of the Tab S8 series, that doesn’t tell us much that isn’t already evident.
The fact that this tablet has now been so extensively leaked though, suggests that we might see it soon, which is good, because the best iPads could do with some fresh competition.
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